Green Pheromones
by Erin Tesden
Summary: Features simple but pleasing to the eye; short disheveled hair of a greenish-black color, which contrasted with Tsuyu's. About her same height as her, and wore a somewhat loose standard uniform with huge red sports shoes that were almost offensive to the eye. It was the person Tsuyu was atracted. And it was a girl... (Fem!Izuku x Tsuyu) - Shoujo ai / Yuri / Fem-slash
1. Chapter 1

**I don't know why I do this to myself.**

**Starting a lot of stories at the same time that I update once every five hundred years. But I just couldn't help myself**

**It had been a long time since I wanted to publish a shoujo ai / yuri story with a genderbended Izuku (Izumi) and Tsuyu.**

**(...)**

"Mommy, how did you fall in love with dad?" Tsuyu asked innocently.

"It was love at first sight." Her mother replied with a smile.

That was a pleasant but somewhat embarrassing memory she had of her childhood. But it certainly made an awful contrast with the memory of her mother and her having basically the same conversation only a few years later...

"Tsuyu, I think you are old enough for me to explain you certain things." The expression on her mother's face was serious. So that way began an unnecessarily long and rather awkward conversation that Tsuyu had wished she had never had.

Basically, the main topic was pheromones.

Like any other teenager, one day Tsuyu was going to find someone she would find especially attractive, and having an animal mutation type Quirk would just make her especially aware of the effect of the chemical compounds and hormones acting to generate those feelings of attraction...

That day the idea she had of romanticism had died.

**(...)**

The day of the UA's entrance exam arrived quite quickly.

And there she was. Sitting in the huge conference room while Present Mic explained the details of the practical exam.

Anyone who looked at her would immediately notice the distracted expression on her face accompanied by the slight trembling of her limbs and uncomfortable aura around her. And they would surely blame it on her nerves.

But they couldn't be more wrong.

_WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!_

It was definitely unbearable and she couldn't even describe it with words. It felt like a terribly cloying aroma invading her whole being and senses; clouding even her own thoughts to some extent.

Tsuyu was more than certain that it was the fault of someone in the room. Someone with a mind control Quirk or something like that who tried to annoy her; there was no other explanation. But there were too many people in the room to know who it was!

And how was Tsuyu supposed to ignore it? It was simply intoxicating in a maddening but pleasant way!

Before she knew it, Present Mic's explanation was over and she barely remembered tiny details of what the Pro-Hero had said beyond "there are robots, destroy them!"

That would have to be enough.

**(...)**

The practical exam ended up being easier than she expected.

Or maybe it was just the result of her being especially tenacious because of the frustration she felt.

Now that she was far enough from the source of her problems, Tsuyu could concentrate enough to understand what had really happened.

It was all the fault of those damn stupid pheromones!

_Someone's_ pheromones out there had managed to affect her;_ someone_ she didn't even knew what they looked like._ Someone_ that Tsuyu maybe wouldn't even meet again after that day. _Someone_ who could end up being a completely awful person... The situation was just terrible, and there was literally nothing she could do to stop feeling that way except to keep exposure to _this person_ until the pheromones stopped affecting her so much.

And knowing her luck,_ that person_ would surely end up passing the exam as well.

**(...)**

Despite the fear and (to her complete irritation) longing she had initially felt at the mere prospect of crossing paths with _that person_ at the exit of the practical exam, Tsuyu concerns had been in vain and the situation ended quite anticlimactically, with her leaving the building while _that person_ stayed behind.

It had been about a week since then.

A boring and depressing week.

A week during which Tsuyu couldn't help but feeling that something was missing.

And unfortunately she was smart enough to understand what it was.

So there she was, finally in UA's 1-A classroom, sitting in one of the desks. Waiting. Slightly amused by the discussion of the explosive grumpy blonde and the tall robotic-like guy that were to be her classmates, while trying to pretend that she wasn't detecting the aura of that time a weej ago approaching slowly to the classroom.

Her expression was static, but her cheeks were flushed and her heart was beating faster by the second as the aroma grew stronger and her attention was gradually diverted towards the the door.

She should feel angry at being in such a situation. Instead she felt stupidly happy just to be in the vicinity of whoever that person was.

And then the door opened and someone entered the room...

Tsuyu blinked in bewilderment, taking a moment to make sure the pheromones really came from that person, which seemed to be the case.

"Kero...?"

It was a girl

"Kero."

A pretty girl, however, Tsuyu had to admit. Her features were simple but pleasing to the eye; Short disheveled hair of a greenish-black color, which contrasted with Tsuyu's. The girl seemed to be about the same height as her, and wore a somewhat loose standard uniform with huge red sports shoes that were almost offensive to the eye. To finish, there was something curiously endearing in the nervous way the girl moved.

_But she's still a girl._

The very nature of her pheromones left no doubt.

_She-is-a-girl._

So there was no reason for Tsuyu to feel attracted to the awkward-looking girl.

Except for the possibility that she actually liked girls and was just realizing it in that moment.

Which would be absurd, right...?

"Eh." The girl noticed Tsuyu's gaze and moved her emerald eyes toward her. And after a little moment of indecision she smiled shyly and raised her hand to greet her.

"K-Kero!" Tsuyu looked away immediately and after a few seconds raised her hand in response to the greeting.

_Her smile is so cute!_

The situation was going to be more complicated than Tsuyu imagined.

**(...)**

**Unlike most of my Boku no Hero stories, in this one in particular I want to develop some things beyond romance.**

**For now, at least I know that I will include some action in relation to the training battle, the USJ stuff, and the sports festival tournament.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here it is the first part of the Quirks Apprehension Test. And with it some few interactions between Tsuyu and Izumi.**

**(...)**

Despite all the time she had had to think about her situation after presenting UA's entrance exam, Tsuyu was still not completely sure about what to do...

The logical thing would have been to tell her mother and ask her for some advice, but knowing her dear mother's personality, the conversation would be more mortifying and embarrassing than anything.

In any case, Tsuyu had decided not to say anything about it and wait for her first school day to see with what kind of person she had decided to be attracted in the first place. That, of course, assuming that said person had passed the entrance exam; If not, Tsuyu had even less to worry about, because she probably wouldn't meet that person ever again.

Which would have saved her a lot of headaches... But it would also been kind of sad.

After all, the fact was that she had never fallen in love with someone before.

Actually, she had never even felt a minimal romantic or sexual attraction to anyone else before, neither a boy nor a girl.

That was what confused her most about the present situation. In the middle of the dressing room while she and the other girls switched to the PE uniform after Aizawa order.

Tsuyu could calmly look at the other girls and be objectively able to appreciate that they all were quite attractive, and yet she wasn't attracted to any of them.

...At least with the exception of a certain freckled girl.

Even positioning herself at the other end of the room, as far as possible, Tsuyu could still feel the presence of the other girl. Worse, almost as if her mind was playing a joke -or trying to torture her psychologically- it was as if her senses had suddenly sharpened, allowing her to hear and imagine in detail each of the girl's movements.

The rubbing of the fabric while the girl took off her blazer and tie, and the small sound she made as she removed each of her shirt buttons, one by one... It was a complete and absolute torture...

Until the temptation became too much and Tsuyu turned her head towards the girl just when she was taking off her shirt... Just to see how the girl wore a sweater under it.

Tsuyu opened her eyes wide, watching as the girl took off her shoes, put on the exercise pants under her skirt and just then removed it. To finish putting on her shoes back again.

One part of Tsuyu felt relief while the other was almost disappointed that she hadn't been able to see anything of the girl's figure under her uniform.

"Do you wear a sweater under the uniform? Isn't it too hot like that?" Asked the smiling girl with permanent red cheeks.

In response, the green-haired girl shrugged somewhat embarrassed.

"That was a strange way to change clothes." Tsuyu said trying to sound calm as if it didn't affect her at all.

"...S-Sorry. I-It makes me a little nervous to change in front of other people." So she felt uncomfortable about being watched…

Tsuyu couldn't help but look away at the floor while frowning, feeling somewhat ashamed of herself.

That wasn't the kind of person she was, she had to start behaving and stop acting like a pervert.

The image of the short purple-haired boy who was in their class suddenly appeared in her mind for some strange reason.

**(...)**

Tsuyu formulated a fairly simple plan in her mind.

All she had to do was to keep a relatively safe distance from the other girl. Neither too close nor too far; after all she had to expose herself to pheromones or she was never going to be able to resist its effects at all. But at the same time she had to be far enough from the girl so that she wouldn't end up acting like a pervert and embarrass herself if she got carried away by the phermones.

All she had to do was be careful.

It shouldn't be too difficult.

Then Tsuyu turned to notice that she had sat directly next to the girl.

_Damn!_

"Hi. My name is Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsu." The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, a stupid smile on her face. Meanwhile, the green-haired girl blinked in surprise, as if it were strange that Tsuyu had approached her.

"I-It's nice to meet you, A-Asui-san. My name is I-Izumi Midoriya..." Her voice became somewhat low towards the end of the sentence, and she looked away blushing, clearly unaccustomed to the really attentive gaze Tsuyu was giving her.

So Izumi was her name.

It was a nice name. It fit her well.

"Call me Tsu."

"...T-Tsu?" Izumi repeated somewhat uncertainly after a few seconds and Tsuyu's face lit up.

It felt good. Being close to Izumi, being able to talk to her and receive her attention, even if it was in a way so simple; It felt amazing.

And that was how her plan to exercise caution was shot out the window.

**(...)**

Apparently Aizawa had unilaterally decided that he would expulse whoever was last in the Quirks Apprehension Test.

Apparently.

In Tsuyu's opinion, Aizawa was just trying to scare them to make them give their best.

An unnecessary and underhanded tactic, but obviously effective, considering the serious and determined expressions on everyone's faces.

Izumi was no exception; the poor girl seemed completely mortified. But at the same time there was an obvious determination shining in her eyes, expressing without words that she wasn't going to let him expel her so easily.

"Cool." She whispered with a slight blush.

**(Test No.1: 50 Meter race)**

"Asui. Midoriya." Grunted Aizawa, and they both approached the track.

Izumi was clearly still quite nervous.

"Let's do our best, Izumi! Kero!" She said with a smile, hoping to calm the other girl's nerves if even a little.

"U-Uh..." Izumi blinked in bewilderment. It seems that she had been too engrossed to notice Tsuyu. "Y-Yeah!" The girl nodded with a small smile on her face.

"K-Kero." Both ducked and put themselves in position to start.

Tsuyu took the opportunity to look at her and was a little surprised.

Despite the tension in her muscles, Izumi was in a perfect position to start running with a very good initial boost. The girl clearly knew what she was doing.

However, Tsuyu also noticed something slightly strange about the girl that she hadn't seen before.

"Kero?" Her hands...

For some reason Izumi wore gloves.

...Maybe it was something about her Quirk? Probably.

Now that Tsuyu thought about that. She had no idea about Izumi's Quirk. At first glance, the girl didn't seem to have any kind of mutation (unless she was hiding it under her gloves). So it must be some kind of emitter or transformation Quirk.

A bugle sounded loudly suddenly indicated the start of the race.

Tsuyu took advantage of her position to propel herself a great distance forwards with a jump, and continued moving from jump to jump to the end of the track where the robot-camera recorded her time.

"5.58 seconds." Tsuyu smiled. That had been one of her best times.

"6.75 seconds." Turning, she saw Izumi stopping after crossing the finish line only a second later.

She was fast. Not superhumanly, but still quite fast.

Once stopped, the girl began to try to calm her breathing, some sweat slipping down her face...

She looked kinda sexy.

"KERO-KERO-KERO!" _Bad Tsuyu!_ She shook her head to try to stop thinking such things and then approached Izumi. "W-Well done." Tsuyu commented, drawing Izumi's attention. Those green eyes of hers were so beautiful that it was hard not to look at them.

"E-Eh?" The girl watched her, completely confused for a moment. "Ah, t-thank you very much." An awkward smile appearing on her face. "Y-You did it great too. T-That first jump was really amazing! I mean, a-all the jumps were really amazing! ...I-I'm sorry."

Tsuyu watched slightly amused about how the girl had seen it necessary to apologize for something like that.

It seemed that Izumi wasn't used to receiving compliments or positive words from other people at all. It was more than clear considering how whenever Tsuyu spoke to her she had that expression of disbelief and restlessness in her gaze, as if it were unbelievable that someone were interested in speaking to her.

Tsuyu was obviously going to have to continue interacting with Izumi so the girl got used to her. Tsuyu would help her as much as she could.

**(Test N°2: Grip strength)**

41 Kg.

Well, her strength had risen a little since the last time. It was a pity that it was difficult for her to use her tongue to lift things, because like that she was sure she could have done a better result.

Tsuyu turned to see how Izumi was doing.

The girl was holding a 53 kg weight in her hand as if nothing, while an expression of slight disappointment crossed her face.

Seriously...? That was well above the average for a girl their age.

Actually, it was enough to leave Izumi in a 3rd place in regards to the others 1-A girls, being overtaken only by Ochako who lifted a 65 Kg weight using her Quirk to reduce the effect of gravity on it, and Yaoyorozu who had raised about 200 kg by using a hydraulic stacker she builded. But in pure strength Izumi was probably in the first place.

Was she that strong? Tsuyu looked at Izumi from top to bottom, her uniform was still loose enough so that Izumi's figure wasn't apparent. Though in looks she seemed a bit on the small and frail side… But apparently that wasn't the case...

Just what was the girl hiding under her clothes...?

...

_NO! Bad Tsuyu! Bad Tsuyu!_

**(...)**

**Don't find it weird if Tsuyu acts a little different than normal. The effect of pheromones makesher considerably more outgoing and expressive around Izumi.**

**Anyway, in the next chapter the last tests... And Bakugou.**

**Leave your reviews and follow if you like.**

**Also, very recently I opened a Ko-Fi. You can found the link on my profile and donate if you want. I would really apreciate the help**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here (FINALLY) is the second part of the Quirks apprehension test arc.**

**And Katsuki now enters the equation.**

**For obvious reasons, the past between Katsuki and Izumi is going to be different than in canon. On one hand because I don't dislike Katsuki (even if it doesn't seems so) and I don't want to put him as the devil incarnate (although I'm aware that he's a huge bastard). Besides I wouldn't feel comfortable writing him being as abusive towards Izumi as he was with Izuku in canon.**

**Although he will remain a bastard.**

**Now some reviews answers!**

**Shadowhell1992****:**** Izumi is going to be slightly better at controlling One for All than Izuku in canon, so things will develop somewhat differently.**

**Manny0101****: That's completely perverted and you should feel ashamed of yourself… But Mineta approves! **

**EndlessChains****: Thank you. I like a lot trying to get in character heads and the emotions they felt when they do things. So I'm glad you enjoyed the narration. I really try to put a lot of work on it**

**Colinot****: Nop. Izumi is a girl**

**All of you, along Rekmar, Guest and LordDemigra, a lot of thanks for taking the time to read and let reviews, favorite and follow!**

**Now, let's start the chapter! **

**(...)**

**(Test 3: Standing Long Jump)**

"Asui. Stop being in the clouds." Aizawa said dryly.

Tsuyu frowned. She wasn't in the clouds... She was simply admiring how adorable the girl besides her looked when she began to murmur uncontrollably thinking no one noticed it.

Tsuyu advanced towards the track until she was on the starting line.

Because of her Quirk, she didn't really need to catch a flight; she just squatted down, building tension in her legs. And when she felt ready she jumped, flying over the track with ease and then squatting down on the other side. Then she stood up and turned to look at Izumi's amazed expression and smiled happily and raised her hand making a V sign.

From what Tsuyu had observed until then; when Izumi didn't seem mortified about her own performance, she was totally focused on observing others**'** abilities. It seems that Izumi genuinely was struck by Quirks at a level that reached fanaticism.

"Good luck!" Tsuyu exclaimed and moved to the side of the track.

Then something strange happened.

It was Izumi's turn and just when the girl seemed to be about to start running, Aizawa advanced towards her.

"Right. I forgot to mention something." Aizawa's hair was floating along his scarf, while his eyes seemed to glow red. "I think I already made it clear that all of you should stop playing games and start taking things seriously... However" Aizawa's tone became more severe than normal. "I don't think I need to clarify that I**'**m expecting all of you to be rational enough not to end up hurting or incapacitating yourselves for being stupidly reckless or unable to control your own Quirks." Aizawa made sure to emphasize the latter, before his eyes returned to normal and his hair and scarf were again affected by gravity. "That's all." He said and stepped off the track once more.

"...Kero...?" Aizawa hadn't made that comment just because. He did it for Izumi, but why?

Tsuyu looked at Izumi; the girl seemed clearly affected, her gaze fixed on her feet.

For a moment, it occurred to Tsuyu to say something to try to alleviate the situation, but just as she was going to do it, Izumi raised her head.

Her doubts had completely disappeared.

Izumi started running, accumulating speed at each step until she reached the starting line, and then jumped.

Tsuyu opened her eyes in surprise, watching as Izumi flew over the track at high speed as if she was a missile.

Towards the end of the track, when Izumi passed by, Tsuyu could distinguish some kind of weird green energy coming from the girl's legs for only a small moment. The amount of power Tsuyu managed to feel coming from it was overwhelming, but there was a warmth that accompanied it.

That must be Izumi's Quirk.

Then Izumi landed, about a meter farther than Tsuyu, although unfortunately not so gracefully; ending up tripping and rolling on the ground a couple of meters until she finally stopped.

Overcoming her astonishment, Tsuyu ran worriedly toward the girl.

"Are you alright, Izumi?!"

"Hey...? Y-Yes, I'm fine." The girl replied after a moment and stood up, somewhat shakily but apparently fine. Although by the expression of slight pain on her face Tsuyu couldn**'**t believe her words fully. "J-Just need a moment to rest my legs." Izumi said, forcing herself to smile. It took Tsuyu a moment to notice that her words weren**'**t only addressed to her but to Aizawa who was watching the situation with interest.

Did using her Quirk cause Izumi pain? That was unusual.

"So you can jump like me. Uh?" Tsuyu asked, genuinely curious. It would be too coincidental for that to be Izumi's Quirk.

"W-Well, yeah. But that's not my Qui-..." Whatever the girl was going to say she suddenly stopped; her face turning pale and her expression worried.

Tsuyu turned around and looked in the direction Izumi was looking at, only to find the blond boy with the explosive Quirk, Katsuki Bakugou, glaring at their direction. The intensity in his eyes didn't seem to indicate anything good.

And despite the distance, Tsuyu was almost certain that the weird murderous gaze was directed at Izumi.

Tsuyu frowned and moved slightly to the side to block the view that the boy had of Izumi and then gave him the most poisonous glare she could, which for her was limited to an expression of moderate displeasure. Katsuki seemed to understand what she was doing and just snorted and rolled his eyes, apparently losing interest for the moment.

Tsuyu turned to Izumi feeling relatively satisfied and noticed the troubled expression on her face.

"Kacchan." She whispered looking in Katsuki's direction.

Tsuyu took a moment to look at Katsuki and then Izumi again.

_Oh no._

**(Test 5: Ball Throw)**

After reflecting for most of Test No.4, Tsuyu had reached a sad but certain conclusion.

She was jealous. It was irritating to recognize it, but it was the truth.

Imagining that the ball in her hand was Katsuki's ugly head, Tsuyu threw it up and, before it could touch the ground, hit it as hard as she could using her tongue as a whip.

It looked more painful than it really was. The fact was that the sensitivity of her tongue was quite low and at the same time it was much stronger than the average tongue.

She didn't even paid too much attention to her score, the illuminated expression on Izumi's face while she murmured about the strength of her tongue was enough signal to know that she had done well enough.

Unfortunately Tsuyu didn**'**t needed her score to know that it was surely lower than Katsuki's. Because Tsuyu tongue was powerful, but not enough to overcome the blond boy's throwing distance of 705.2 meters.

To her slight relief, at least Katsuki could no longer boast about having the greatest distance after Ochako managed to get an infinite score.

Again, it was irritating to recognize it and Tsuyu tried not to think about it too much, but there was the remote and tiny possibility that Izumi liked the blond bastard.

They both knew each other from before, that was clear, and there was an odd vibe around them that betrayed that the situation between them was quite complicated.

And in that way, jealousy had poked its ugly face on Tsuyu's mind. She didn't like feeling that way at all.

Then it was suddenly Izumi's turn.

The girl advanced towards the throwing area, and remained a few seconds watching the ball in her hand with some insecurity.

"She is really letting nerves affect her." Tenya commented and Ochako nodded slightly worried.

"It's weird for Deku-chan to be like that, being so strong." The girl commented and Tsuyu looked at them curiously.

_¿Deku? _Wasn't that the same nickname that Katsuki had used a couple of times referring to Izumi?

"Hmn, do you two know Izumi-chan?" Both turned with slight alarm, not having noticed Tsuyu's presence.

"...Ah, Asui-chan! Yes, both of us and Deku-chan did the practical test in the same area. You should have seen her, she was amazing!"

"Indeed, she has both the strength and the heart of a true hero!" Exclaimed the boy, nodding robotically in a way that was somewhat funny.

Tsuyu smiled, happy not to be the only one who felt sympathy for the freckled girl... Tsuyu just hoped they wouldn't end up becoming her rivals for Izumi's love or something similar. She already had enough to have to (potentially) compete against Katsuki.

"Although I hope things aren't going to end up like during the test," Ochako said suddenly somewhat worried.

"I don't think you should worry. I assume the damage Izumi-san suffered that time was for the amount of force she used to neutralize the Zero-Points. But this time I don't think she needs to get to that extreme." Tenya's words practically entered through one of Tsuyu's ears and came out from the other, she being incapable to find their meaning.

Tsuyu seriously needed some context.

"What do you mean? What happened with the Zero-Points and Izumi?" Asked Tsuyu, suddenly remembering she had heard a curious rumor about the robot after the test had finished.

It couldn't be... Or could it?

"She punch it" said the girl, hitting the air with enthusiasm, "and reduced it to scrap to save me from being stepped on." Tsuyu blinked, surprised and slightly incredulous, before turning to look at Izumi. "She didn't needed to do it but still intervened to save me. Although in the end she ended up hurting herself." Said the brown-haired girl, a bit embarrassed.

So Izumi was the girl from the rumor: The girl who destroyed that robotical monstrosity.

Imagining it was almost impossible. She didn't looked as someone from whom one could expect such a power. But if that wasn't the case, then what was that intense force Tsuyu was able to detect emanating from Izumi just a few minutes ago?

Besides that, by Ochako's words, it seemed that what happened after the jump hadn't been a coincidence or accident. Apparently Izumi somehow always hurt herself by using her Quirk.

It was something really curious ... And worrisome.

The curiosity she felt for Izumi was only growing by the minute.

"...I think Izumi-chan will be fine." She said with a smile.

It was then that the person with whom she had the least interest to interact with throughout all the school just decided to appear.

"Bah, that nerd is completely screwed!" Katsuki exclaimed in his angry voice. "I have no idea what the hell she did to pass the entrance exam or what damn trick she used to take that huge ass jump before, but in the end it doesn't matter shit. She will simply end up making a fool of herself like the Quirkless nerd she is! "

Tsuyu frowned, trying to keep calm so she wouldn't end up hitting Katsuki's face with her tongue.

Then Katsuki and Tenya began to argue, while she turned to fix her attention on Izumi again. What does it the blond idiot meant calling Izumi _Quirkless _of all things?

She was not Quirkless.

If it wasn't obvious before, it became clear the moment Izumi finally made her throw.

"SMASH!" Izumi exclaimed, hitting the ball with her index finger and causing it to shoot skyward until it was no longer visible.

"715,2 meters." Aizawa said with a slightly creepy smile on his face. Tenya started clapping while Ochako exclaimed "Well done, Deku-chan!", And she just raised her thumb and smiled. Izumi watched their support and ducked her head, embarrassed but with a small proud smile on her face.

As for Katsuki, his expression of disbelief and shock at that moment was hilarious. Unfortunately, it was immediately replaced by one of fury, his face turning red like a volcano about to explode.

Surprisingly the boy just walked away while grunting unintelligible things.

There was definitely something weird between those two.

**(...)**

The last three tests that followed were in their own way a true torture. Not because they were particularly difficult, although they certainly managed to leave her exhausted both physically and mentally.

The real problem was the fact of having to compete while resisting the temptation of staring openly at Izumi while she was running during Test No.6, lifting weights at No.7, and demonstrating her flexibility at No.8.

Izumi was hot. It wasn't even her hormones talking, but a fact.

At one point Minoru seemed to notice how she looked at Izumi. To which he smiled and raised his thumb in approval. That was enough for her to hit him and then hit herself.

As for the results, she got 13th with Izumi just behind her in 14th place. Just as she expected the expulsion had been a trick and everyone ended up safe at the end.

And so her first day in UA ended.

**(...)**

"What did Recovery Girl tell you?" Tsuyu asked.

"E-Eh, she scolded me a little but said I was fine." Izumi said as she opened and closed the hand with which she had used her Quirk.

Aizawa had made her visit the nurse to check whether or not she had any type of internal damage.

"... When you used your Quirk to jump it caused you pain, and the same with the ball throw… Is that normal?"

"E-Eh. No." Izumi seemed especially uncomfortable suddenly for some reason. "N-Not exactly... I... E-Eh. I'm a late bloomer. S-So I'm still learning and getting used to it."

"At least it's a huge improvement compared to that time during the practical test." Ochako commented.

"Certainly. That was simply terrible." Tenya nodded as he glanced at Izumi, while Tsuyu raised an eyebrow.

"You had already mentioned that before, but I thought it was just some pain..." A huge power in exchange for overloading her muscles at the point of causing pain, at least that was how Tsuyu had interpreted Izumi's Quirk until then.

"I-It was nothing..." Izumi intervened trying to downplay the situation, even though she didn't seem to believe her own words.

"It was something...! Deku-chan broke her arm and one leg. It was awful." Ochako added severely. Meanwhile, Tsuyu could feel an enormous discomfort in her stomach just by imagining Izumi suffering a wound like that.

"What does Deku mean?" Tsuyu asked, wanting to change the subject to something that wouldn't make her feel so bad.

Then the subject changed to the nicknames Katsuki and Izumi give to each other when they were kids, which they still use after 10 years even when they hardly are friends anymore.

Tsuyu wasn't sure what topic, whether that or Izumi with broken bones, make her stomach feel worse.

**(...)**

"I arrived." Tsuyu said as she entered her home. She felt exhausted, although at the same time... Happy?

Her first day at UA had a bit of everything. Happiness, fear, tension, action... Romance.

She wasn't going to be able to stay away from Izumi even if she wanted to. That had already been obvious. If what her mother had told her was true, the older she get and the more time she passed near Izumi the easier it would be for her not to get carried away by her hormones. So for now there was little she could do about it.

And that really didn't bother her as much as before. After all, after meeting Izumi, many of her fears had dissipated.

She seemed like a nice and kind-hearted person. She was also cute, funny in an awkward way, and on top of that she carried a hidden strength and courage within her that made Tsuyu's heart beat faster every time she saw her.

Izumi was just the kind of person Tsuyu could accept having fallen in love with.

"Welcome home." Her mother, Beru, replied. It seemed she had apparently arrived early from work and was storing some vegetables in the refrigerator.

"Hmn, where are Samidare and Satsuki?" She asked, curious that they weren't in sight. They could be very quiet and loud at the same time.

"They are playing at the park. It's curious you didn't notice..." Beru commented and Tsuyu tried to not react at her words. Considering how distracted she was thinking on Izumi it wasn't that strange she didn't notice them… But her mother didn't need to know that. "Anyway, how was your first day of school?

"Pretty good." she said with a slightly dumb smile, Izumi's face suddenly appearing in her mind.

"I see." Her mother replied, having finished. "Tsuyu," said her mother, interrupting her attempt to go up to her room to change clothes. "One moment, we need to talk." Tsuyu raised a curious eyebrow and watched her mother sit on one of the couches of the living room.

Tsuyu walked and sat on the other couch, facing her mother. Suddenly finding the situation bizarrely familiar.

"You found them, right?" Beru asked seriously, and Tsuyu genuinely didn't know what to answer. "Your right one." Her mother said and Tsuyu suddenly froze.

_Oh no._

"...Mom, what-...?"

"Tsuyu" Said Beru raising her hand to stop her from talking. "I'm not that naive. I realized it... It really wasn't that difficult." Beru sighed. "You have been behaving strangely... Distant and depressed since the day of the practical exam. Initially I thought it was the nerves or fear of not having passed, but soon I started to suspect it wasn't that and I was sure of it when you continued to behave the same way even after receiving your card of acceptance... And now, suddenly, you return from your first day in UA having returned to normal... No. Looking even happier than normal... I can only assume that you met your right one finally... Or am I wrong?"

"..." Tsuyu blinked, almost speechless, and then just nodded. Her mother's level of insight was something otherworldly. That was the kind of thing you had to deal with when your mother was a lawyer.

"Good!" Beru exclaimed, with a smile on her face, finally leaving the act of the merciless lawyer and interrogator. "It seems that the time has come for us to finally end the conversation we started some years ago!" Her mother said with a lot of energy. "Where was I left last time...? Ah, right. About the tadpoles. You see..."

Meanwhile, Tsuyu swallowed hard and began to wish for any merciful being who could be listening to take her out of there.

_Not again… Just not again._

But her wish didn't come true.

**(...)**

**Yep, Izumi didn't finish last ... Because I can.**

**Nah, seriously speaking I always found it a little absurd that Izuku finished last in canon. Because objectively the only way to explain it, is that Aizawa take a lot of his points for breaking a finger, which here didn**'**t happen anyway.**

**After all, in canon Izuku average performance in the first tests and his excellent result in the ball throwing, despite his mediocre results in the last three tests due to the pain he felt, should left him still in a ****position at least higher than Mineta that is a weakling and only succeeded in a test, and Hagakure whose Quirk gives her no advantage at all in any of the tests. It just doesn't make sense otherwise.**

**Anyway that was my "rant". See you in the next episode, that if my planning goes well, it will focus in Izumi and Bakugou first battle. And so, it will both from Izumi and Tsuyu POVs.**

**Also, if you like MHA stories with yuri and Tsuyu, you should read ****The Hand That Bleeds**** by ****Nightmare Zane****. It's a really cute and awesome story, and it's OC is fantastic, I'm sure you'll like it.**

**Leave your opinion and follow if you like. And if you want to support me you can donate to my ko-fi from the link on my profile. Have a nice**** day and see you later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, there has passed two months since the last update. Sorry about that.**

**But, as a gift for your patience, and considering I don't have anything to do because of the quarantine, here it is the huge ass long chapter for all of you ;)**

**But don't expect another update soon because i'll try to update my other MHA stories too.**

**For control and stuff, this is the feedback count of this story at the moment:**

_**Reviews: **_**15**

_**Favorite: **_**101**

_**Followers: **_**153**

_**Reads:**_** 4502**

**Thanks for it all of you, now answering some reviews:**

**Shadowhell1992 (c3): I'm not sure if I answered for PM. Sorry if I didn't. But I decided not to change the groups that much, except for Tsuyu being there, of course. It was an interesting idea, but if I paired Tsuyu and Katsuki for the exercise, I'm not going to lie, they would -probably- kill each other.**

**Yohnos (c3): Yeah, I always hate that. In most fics, Aizawa always looks for an excuse to mess with Izuku. I didn't remember it at the time, but yeah, it is especially aberrant because as you say, he never bothers Todoroki even if he is doing something even worse. **

**Shin (c3): Yeah, I'll probably add a scene of that somewhere eventually. I only know that Beru is surely going to want grandchildrens XD**

**EmperorNefarious1 (c3): That sounds like a cheat XD. It would qualify as creative use but it would be really subjective. And yeah, that's exactly what I mean, Izuku in the last place doesn't make sense even if you want to picture him as the underdog. The thing is even if I assume Tohru is an invisible amazon princess (that would be interesting), I'm sure not going to believe that Izuku can get a worse score than Mineta. I imagine myself in the Izuku's position and it would be kind of depressing.**

**Thanks for the reviews, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Izumi was by herself in the changing room. The other girls had left a while ago by her petition.

Her eyes were glued to the metal briefcase resting on her lap. She opened it slowly and then watched the contents with excitement. She took out the green jumpsuit and admired again how perfect it was.

Izumi felt her eyes sting and couldn't stop the tears that followed.

Her feelings were a mess. She felt so dumb for crying, but relieved that there wasn't anyone nearby to watch her bawling her eyes out. But more than anything, she was dripping with happiness.

She knew it was stupid, but through all her training with All Might, passing the entrance exam, and having her very first day at UA, everything had felt too wonderful to be true, like it was nothing but a dream. That she would awake one day and find herself Quirkless again and as defenseless as she used to be.

But now that she could feel the soft but resistant green fabric between her fingers, she could finally accept it...

"...Thanks, Mom."

She was going to be a hero...

Izumi put on her uniform with great anticipation and then looked at herself in the room's mirror.

She looked and felt amazing.

Her hero uniform was simple but still memorable, and very comfortable to use, hugging her body efficiently to permit good mobility without being skintight... She would die of embarrassment otherwise.

But she hadn't tried the best part yet... _The mask!_

"I-I AM HERE!" She posed a hand on her waist and the other pointing with her index finger upward.

Izumi couldn't stop from laughing, a bit embarrassed of herself two seconds later.

The mask was so goofy... The white part of the respirator looked like a weird smile, while the long protrusions on the top were more resembling of bunny ears than All Might's hair. Like if she a cross between an All Might and Mirko fangirl... That she technically was, so she loved it!

"...I am here."

And now it was time to go.

* * *

While she waited for Izumi, Tsuyu was having an amusing time looking at her classmates' hero uniforms.

People like Ojiro, Tokoyami, and Todoroki were minimalistic with their chosen costumes. Ojiro's uniform was a karate-gi, while Tokoyami was fully clothed on black, and Todoroki used generic white clothes with golden-colored straps over his shoulders, that didn't seem to have any use at all, with his body's left side covered in ice, which looked more uncomfortable and impractical than anything.

Kaminari and Jirou, some support stuff aside, were pretty much just using cool-looking clothes they probably took out of their own wardrobes.

Then it was Mineta... Just why was he using diapers? And why did he think he would look _cool_ with them...? It was a mystery.

Everyone else looked really neat. Specially Ochako in her cute astronaut suit, and Iida that looked even more like a robot than before.

Though she felt a bit bad about her brown-haired friend. Poor girl ended up with a costume slightly different from her original design, being skintight instead of puffy. All because of a mistake of the Support Department...

Tsuyu suspected that they had done it on purpose.

In that same vein, both Kirishima and Yaoyorozu's costumes were cool too, but practically bordered the line of being illegal. This time, however, Tsuyu wasn't sure if the costumes were like that by design or if the Support Department had taken some creative liberties...

Also, Tsuyu tried not to think too much of the fact that an invisible girl was running around the room almost naked at that same moment.

In her case, she was satisfied with her green and black skintight (by design) bodysuit. She still had to test it, but if her indications were followed, it should be perfect for wall-crawling.

She wondered, what was Izumi's hero uniform going to be like?

A lot of thoughts went through her mind, imagining Izumi with the costumes of some of her classmates, looking cute in some and badass in others... And then slowly those thoughts went downhill, directly to the -very erotic- gutter...

Before she could keep perving on her crush, she finally felt Izumi getting closer until she finally entered the room.

"K-Kero!"

This couldn't be real...? She couldn't possibly look so cute...?!

It was perfect, just perfect!

Izumi's costume in its simplicity but good design connected completely with Tsuyu's sense of aesthetics, especially considering that both of them were matching the same color pattern and, considering the form of Izumi's mask, an animal thematic... It was almost as if they were a couple.

Besides that, now in her hero uniform, Izumi's body figure was more discernable than before. And surprisingly, despite the softness of her facial traits, the rest of Izumi was highly contrasting, her muscles recently developed, resulting in a fit and athletic body.

"...Tsu? Your face is red." Said Ochako, standing at her side. "Are you fine?" She looked in the same direction as Tsuyu. "...Is that Deku-chan?"

Tsuyu just nodded and started walking awkwardly towards Izumi.

"H-Hey, Uraraka-san, Asu-, I mean Tsu-" And then Tsuyu hugged her, she just couldn't stop herself, and felt the green-haired girl stiff in her arms. "...T-Tsu?!"

"Izumi-chan looks like an amusement park mascot, kero." The words left her mouth before she had time to process them.

"...Eh ...T-Thanks? ...Is that, like a g-good thing?" The poor girl looked so confused about the whole situation.

"It is. You look so cute and friendly." Tsuyu answered. At that point, she was just saying everything that came to her mind, without thinking it too much. Being so close to Izumi... It suddenly became difficult for her to think clearly.

She knew she would kick herself later for acting like a love-struck fool, but for now... She just felt so blessed!

* * *

"Oh, t-thanks. My m-mom made it." Izumi said happily and her body relaxed a bit. "You look c-cute, too."

Wasn't the hug prolonging a bit too much...? Though Izumi couldn't deny that it was comfortable.

She hadn't much experience hugging or being hugged, so while it was embarrassing, Izumi welcomed the warm feeling.

Though it was weird, she didn't expect Tsuyu to be that warm. Maybe being part-frog didn't make her cold-blooded? Or maybe she just had a misconception about what having cold-blood meant about body heat? She needed to research that when she got home.

Also, why was she being hugged again...? Should she hug her too...? Maybe she should.

Izumi moved her arms carefully around the smaller girl and immediately noticed how Tsuyu twitched. Was she doing something wrong? Maybe she should to hug Tsuyu tighter...? Yeah, she would do that.

"U-Uh... G-Girls, what are you doing?" Izumi tilted her head and noticed Ochako looking at them with an embarrassed and somewhat confused expression.

Izumi frankly didn't know what to answer.

"Hmm. your costume's bunny ears look so beautiful, right, Ochako-chan?" Tsuyu ended the hug and took a step back.

"Eh? Well, they do." The permanently blushed girl nodded, not noticing that Tsuyu had completely avoided the question.

"She looks adorable." Complimented Tsuyu again.

"T-Thanks, though they aren't bunny ears..."

Izumi didn't notice the change of topic either. She was too busy pulling her _ears _down in embarrassment.

"Kero... Can I touch them?" Asked the frog girl already moving her hands toward Izumi's head, her excitement notorious in her eyes despite her general lack of expression.

Notes for costume's next version: Discard the mask and just keep the respirator.

* * *

"**TEAM D IS GOING TO BE YOUNG MIDORIYA AND YOUNG ASUI.**" Said All Might in his booming voice.

Izumi turned to her exercise partner to find the ever-present sweet smile on Tsuyu's face.

She smiled too. She had been lucky to be paired with a _friend_.

It felt almost alien to even think about that word. She had not had any girl friends before... Well, being sincere, not friends at all, male or female whatsoever.

And now she could say with a certain confidence that she had three: Ochako, Tenya, and Tsuyu.

Though, despite her inexperience with friendship, Izumi knew that the frog-girl was a very special case.

Ochako was a friendly person, the type who could be friends with almost anyone, maybe even someone brash like Bakugou.

Tenya was a slightly prejudiced guy, of the kind that would left himself be carried away by first impressions, but ultimately he was a nice person too. He only needed to be more flexible sometimes.

And finally, Tsuyu was as friendly as Ochako, except with a more laid-back personality. The thing about her that Izumi found weird but interesting was that Tsuyu seemed to be multiple times friendlier with her than with other people.

In fact, Tsuyu seemed to be always in her close vicinity, looking at her with that small smile on her face and acting slightly weird.

In a different situation, it would be disconcerting, but no matter how many times Izumi analyzed her behavior, Tsuyu didn't seem to have any bad intentions at all. Her kindness was sincere.

Maybe she was just over-analyzing everything? Or maybe Tsuyu's personality was just quirky because of her amphibian mutation? Whatever the reason and curiosity aside, Izumi didn't mind that much. Actually, it made her happy to be the target of those positive feelings.

Now if she could just avoid being pitted against Katsuki her day would be perf-

"**OKAY! TO START, TEAM D AS THE VILLAINS VERSUS TEAM B AS THE HEROES!**"

...Katsuki and Tenya were Team B.

"Shit." It was what she was thinking, but Katsuki was the one to say it out loud.

* * *

Izumi and Tsuyu entered the building first, having ten minutes to strategize.

"W-Well, first things first. We should discuss e-each other's abilities." Izumi recommended, and her partner nodded.

"If I understood, Izumi-chan has super-strength, isn't it?" Unlike before, Tsuyu was now acting in a more serious-business way.

"K-Kinda." She said, sheepishly. "The way it works, I gather energy in the part of my body I want to use and then r-release it. The more energy I use, the stronger it gets, and the more p-pressure it exerts. So if I use it repeatedly or with t-too much energy at once, my b-bones can break." She noticed how Tsuyu flinched. "B-But you need not worry. I got b-better at controlling it lately. I-I will be fine!"

"Hmm, if you say so, I'm still worried, though." Her expression was grumpy but funny, which Izumi found endearing. Not much people worried for her wellbeing, so it made her happy.

"T-Thanks. And what about Tsu?" She asked, wanting to get the other girl in a better mood. "I know Tsu has frog-related abilities, but I'm still not sure to what extent." She asked carefully, not wanting to seem nosy.

"Well, I can do most stuff that frogs can do. From jumping long distances, and wall-crawling, to shooting my tongue up to 20 meters to use it like a whip and hit stuff or swing myself around... I can also eject my whole stomach to wash it if I ingest something toxic and secret a mildly stinging toxin." She said as if nothing, but a moment later her cheeks turned red. "T-Thinking about it, those last two are virtually useless so you can forget about them."

"T-They aren't! The stomach thing sounds like it could be a lifesaver!"

"But not something particularly nice to watch or discuss, so please don't mention it."

"A-And the stinging mucus could have its uses." Some part of her wanted to just shut up because she knew she was making Tsuyu uncomfortable, but the nerdy part of her was stronger. "I'm just theorizing here, b-but shouldn't Tsu be able to detect allies or enemies using such t-toxin as a marker?" Tsuyu looked at her with her eyes open wide and then moved her finger against her mouth, thoughtful.

"I can't say I tried something like that before, kero. It could work, maybe."

"Then, try it with m-me!" It didn't occur to Izumi how weird that sound.

"No way." She flushed again and before Izumi could insist she added, "I can already feel where you are anytime, anyway." It took Tsuyu less than a second to notice she had said too much.

"D-Do you?!" Izumi asked, surprised. "W-Wait. Can you feel where everyone is?! If it is like that, then-!"

"No, I can't." Tsuyu interrupted her. "I can only feel Izumi-chan, kero."

"Eh, just me?" She pointed to herself, and Tsuyu nodded. "... W-Why?" The only answer she received was an embarrassed _'kero'_. "...A-Anyway," She changed of topic "considering our abilities and our opponents I think w-we should separate."

"Kero?" The girl tilted her head.

"We are the _v-villain _team. So our conditions of victory are: **a) **defeat the _heroes_, or **b) **p-protect the _bomb_ until time's over."

"So, we separate and then each of us takes one hero?"

"Exactly. Kaachan is n-not a team player, so it should be easy to arrange. In any case-"

"I'll deal with Bakugou, kero." "I'll face Kaachan." They both looked at each other for a moment.

"...W-What? No, Tsu n-needs to go after Iida-san."

"Izumi-chan should fight against Iida-chan. I'll stop Bakugou." She said with a serious expression. Now that Izumi noticed, there seemed to be a bit of hostility in the girl's voice when talking about Katsuki.

"...T-That isn't a good idea."

"You said you couldn't use your Quirk too much... And I really can't imagine a fighting against Bakugou ending in a good way." Izumi frowned. Tsuyu acted as if she had a grudge on Katsuki or something.

Though it wouldn't be that weird. Katsuki had always had a great talent for bringing out the worst in people.

"I k-know. But this is about Iida-san and T-Tsu." Tsuyu lifted an eyebrow. "You two have a huge mobility, but even though Iida-san is faster, he will be in a great d-disadvantage fighting in a closed space. Which isn't your case... So between you two, I'm 80% sure that Tsu would be the winner... On the other hand, b-because of my lack of control, I can't say the same thing about myself... Iida-san would be a bad m-match for me."

"But isn't Bakugou going to be an even worse match?" She was clearly worried. And then Izumi understood...

Tsuyu's behavior wasn't because she hated Katsuki, though maybe she did… Tsuyu was being protective of her.

"Maybe." She said, deceitfully calm. "But I know e-enough about Kaachan and his Quirk to win or at least endure enough until the times up or Tsu joins me against him." Her eyes were full of determination.

"So that's your plan?"

"Yes!" She nodded. "Tsu only n-needs to hide the bomb on the last floor. There's only one access to it, so y-you can wait on the previous floor to ambush Iida-san... Meanwhile, I'll make K-Kaachan fight against me by himself. It will be e-easy. Knowing him, he is not going to accept anyone's help, so I will leave Iida-san advance towards the upper floors straight into your trap. And then we can regroup and go 2vs1 against Katsuki." She finished and waited for her partner to answer. Tsuyu repeated her finger tic with a little frown, divided between accepting her plan or not.

"...What is going to stop Katsuki from ignoring you and just go after the bomb himself?"

"He won't even think about it." Izumi answered immediately. "Kaachan is exactly the kind of e-egocentric person who can't imagine himself losing. So he only cares for achieving a perfect victory, and w-winning by securing the bomb is something he would consider _lame and b-boring_, so he won't do that... His only option is to try to c-capture us, to show t-that he is the strongest..."

"...Fine. But that's not the case for Iida, kero." Tsuyu interjected. "And as much as you trust me to win. I'm not sure of being able to do it while worrying at the same time about keeping the bomb safe. After all, Iida-chan is fast enough to just avoid me and go straight to the bomb if he wants. Carrying it around isn't an option either, and it would be truly bothersome." Despite her words represented a true problem, her tone was tired. Tsuyu probably didn't have more sound reasons to deny her plan.

"I have a tactic to m-make Iida-san forget completely about the bomb." Tsuyu's expression turned crestfallen. They both were being stubborn, but Izumi knew she was right. She sighed and then smiled. "I know that I don't look like a particularly strong person and that I am somewhat m-meek. I recognize that I still have a lot of stuff to change about myself to achieve true strength... But if anything, I know that I can't just give up and avoid every challenge in front of me just because it can h-hurt me. I almost did before and I learned that you c-can't win anything if you don't fight for it... So please, trust me on this, Tsu."

Tsuyu remained silent for a couple of seconds that seemed infinite and then nodded slowly.

"I'll do it, kero." She smiled, and the tension finally disappeared. "...So then, what do I have to do with Iida-chan?"

* * *

"**OKAY, THE TEN MINUTES ARE OVER! THE HERO TEAM CAN ENTER THE BUILDING.**" All Might finally announced.

"Finally! I was about to fucking fall asleep before it was our turn." Katsuki started walking at the building entrance, leaving his partner behind.

"Where do you think you are going?! We planned nothing about what we were going to do!" Yelled Iida running to catch up to him.

"What the fuck is there to say? I just have to find frog-face and make her explode."

"T-That's a horrible way to say it! Weren't we supposed to be the heroes? Did I got something wrong?!" He looked dismayed.

"Fucking chill, bastard!" Tenya stopped gesturing and just gaped at Katsuki, unbelieving of the guy's terrible attitude.

Was this a nightmare? Was he being punished for something he couldn't remember he did?

"...And what about Midoriya-kun?" Katsuki stopped walking.

"...What about her?" He said nothing else and kept advancing.

After a while, they reached the third floor, still finding no trace of the girls or the bomb.

Tenya was the only one actually looking for the bomb, though.

"Did those fuckers barricaded themselves on the last floor or what?!" It would make sense. Most of the floors had two access, one going up and the other going down, except for the last one. "Where the fuck-?!" He turned a corner and then saw her, standing by the end of one of the side corridors. Her green eyes fixed on them. "Deku." He grunted.

"YOU VILLAIN!" Tenya pointed his finger at the girl. "We are here to put an end to your reign of terr-!" Katsuki slapped him on the back of his head before he could continue. "T-That was unnecessary!"

"FUCKING ROLEPLAYING IS UNNECESSARY, YOU DIPSHIT!"

"I don't know what roleplaying means but if it means to act trustworthy as it would be proper for a hero, then I'll keep roleplaying until the end of my life!"

"What-the-fuck...? How can someone be so fucking stup-? AAGH! FUCK YOU! JUST STOP SAYING STUPID SHIT AND FUCKING DAMN MOVE!"

"That's what I was going to do when you interrupted me." Tenya seemed unaffected, despite the blond time-bomb standing beside him.

Instead, he was careful of Izumi, who just stared at them in silence.

"NOT TO HER! I MEANT THE FUCKING STAIRS! DIDN'T YOU WANTED TO SECURE THE DAMN BOMB?! WELL, GO AND FUCKING DO IT! DEKU ISN'T EVEN BLOCKING THE ACCESS SO JUST GO AND GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

"Are you going to fight against Midoriya-kun by yourself?"

"DO-YOU-THINK-I-NEED-YOUR-HELP?!" His eyes were murderous.

"Fine." Tenya nodded. "I'LL BRING YOUR PARTNER TO JUSTICE, VILLAIN!" He yelled suddenly and started running towards the stairs.

Katsuki watched him disappear behind a corner and then turned to Izumi. The moment his eyes looked at hers, the girl put herself in a battle stance.

"Tsk."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tenya ran through every hallway and looked inside every room on his way up, finding nothing. Eventually, he reached the penultimate floor.

It came as a total surprise when a pink whip-like thing shot towards his left foot, wrapping it and pulling him with enough strength to make him fall on the floor.

Immediately he tried to kick it with his other foot, but the thing released him before he could hit it. He stood up and backed away, avoiding as it moved again, hitting the section of the floor when he was just a moment before.

"You made me wait for a bit too long, hero." Said the frog-girl in front of him. "But now you'll meet your end, kero." Despite the cute croak, the girl's voice sounded unnervingly cold.

"HA! I WILL NEVER FALL IN YOUR CLAWS!"

"They aren't claws." She showed him her hands.

"STOP PLAYING! Tell me where is the bomb and let's end up with this madness!"

"Don't wanna, kero."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO EVIL?!"

"Fine, if you insist: the bomb is in the room directly above this one." The words barely left her mouth when the tall boy had already turned around to run towards the last stairs. "If you leave, I'll make it explode." The boy stopped in his tracks.

"W-What?" He turned his head slowly.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time, hero. So you can't leave. If you do it, I'll use the bomb's remote control to make it explode."

"R-Remote control?!" Tenya had turned pale. "...But A-All Might didn't mention it... Something like that just can't exist in this simulation... is it...?" He was sweating so much, Tsuyu feared he would have a short-circuit.

"All Might? What does All Might have to do with this? This is between the both of us, kero... And simulation? Don't know what you are talking about. This is _real_, kero." She observed the boy having something akin to an existential crisis, and couldn't but be amused that Izumi's plan seemed to work exactly as she had predicted. "So, if you don't want me to activate the bomb and harm hundreds of innocents, we are going to have a duel, kero." She smiled. Being the villain was fun.

* * *

At the same time, the rest of the students along with All Might observed the exchange from multiple screens.

"What is that dude even doing?" Asked Kaminari a bit disconcerted. "If he just started running right now, I doubt Tsuyu would be able to stop him."

"**IF HE DID SUCH A THING, HE WOULD IGNORE YOUNG TSUYU'S THREAT.**" Added All Might.

"Does it matter?" Asked Jirou. "The remote control doesn't exist, and the bomb is not even real."

"**DO YOU THINK SO?**" Asked the man, in an amused tone, smiling brighter than before.

"Of course! You were the one that said it."

"**DID I? I THINK I'M GETTING OLD BECAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER. ...WHAT DID I SAY THAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS EXERCISE, YOUNG KAMINARI?**"

"Well, like a 2vs2 fight and stuff-."

"**WRONG!**"

"EH?! But you said it!"

"**CAN'T REMEMBER A THING, BUT I'M SURE THAT I DIDN'T EXPLAINED IT LIKE THAT. CALL IT A HUNCH.**"

"This is a simulation of indoors battle between a team acting as heroes and another acting as villains, assuming the latter has a bomb in their control." Intervened Yaoyorozu.

"**PERFECTLY SAID, YOUNG YAOYOROZU! AND AS THE WORD SIMULATION IMPLIES, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LEARN WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO ACT IN SUCH SITUATION WHILE PRACTICING IT IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT.**" He turned to Kaminari. "**SO THEN, YOUNG KAMINARI, IMAGINE THAT THIS IS A REAL-LIFE SITUATION AND A VILLAIN THREATENS YOU TO ACTIVATE A BOMB IF YOU DON'T FIGHT AGAINST THEM, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?**"

"E-Eh? But... The bomb and the control aren't real." He said, insecure.

"**OH, BUT ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT...? DO YOU TRULY WANT TO RISK CALLING THE VILLAIN'S BLUFF AND ENDANGER YOURSELF, YOUR PARTNER AND THE CIVILIANS IN THE VICINITY IF YOU END UP BEING MISTAKEN? SO, ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE CONSEQUENCES?**" At that point, Kaminari's face was pale as chalk. "...**HEROES HAVE TO DEAL WITH SIMILAR DECISIONS EVERY DAY, SO I FOUND YOUNG MIDORIYA AND YOUNG ASUI'S BLUFF FITTING AND A VERY CREATIVE MANEUVER!**"

"...But, All Might-sensei, if Iida-kun ignores the bluff and goes after the bomb... What will happen then?" Asked Ochako.

"**THE EXERCISE WOULD END UP WITH THE HERO TEAM'S VICTORY, OF COURSE.**" Everyone waited for the punchline. "**BUT THEY WON'T PASS.**" He started laughing merrily.

* * *

Meanwhile, for Izumi's surprise, Katsuki's anger seemed to have dissipated somewhat.

"What are you fucking doing here, Deku?" He sounded more disinterested than angry.

"I'm n-not going to let you pass me, Kaachan."

"Bullshit, you couldn't stop four-eyes and you can't stop me either... But that's not what I asked?" He scrunched his eyes. "I asked, what are you doing HERE?"

"U-Uh?"

"HERE." He started walking towards her. "Like in this fucking school, in this fucking building, in this fucking corridor." He stopped at less than one meter from her. "...In front of me."

"...W-What?" She paled.

"I knew you would fuck it up and ruin my opportunity to be the only one of our shitty middle school to make it to UA, you Quirkless shit, but I expected you to at least go to the fucking General Department." With each thing he said, he seemed angrier and angrier. "SO WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING IN THE HERO COURSE, DEKU?!" She was completely paralyzed at that point. "DO YOU REALLY DON'T CARE A SHIT THAT YOUR FUCKING USELESS PRESENCE HERE IS STAINING UA'S REPUTATION?! OR YOU ACTUALLY JUST DID IT TO SPITE ME, YOU SICK FUCK?! ...TELL ME WHY ARE YOU HERE...?! JUST ANSWER ME DEKU!"

And as fast as it started, Katsuki's anger stopped, and he just looked down at her with an annoyed expression.

"You are just wasting the fucking time of everyone, including yourself, by being here. Lying to yourself to think your fucking useless struggles meant something. But I will be _nice _and tell you something: THEY DON'T. Just because you repeat it to yourself every time you are crying in your fucking room for being a waste of space, doesn't mean it will become true... You will not be a hero, don't matter what you do. So just go away, Deku." He bumped her shoulder and walked past her.

After some seconds, she turned slowly and watched him go.

...She felt empty.

She had expected him to be completely awful like that, of course. But she hoped to find some kind of catharsis after finally being able to fight against him. To be finally recognized as an equal...

She sure didn't expect that... He had totally brushed her off.

Izumi couldn't understand. If he didn't even plan to fight her from the start, then why did he stop Tenya? Was she really that worthless in his eyes he didn't even wish Tenya -who he seemed to hate- _to waste his time_ fighting her?

Izumi clenched her fist, feeling as suddenly the emptiness disappeared and was replaced for something that she had rarely felt before...

...For Katsuki, she was nothing but a weak and useless nobody. Not even worth to be called an extra or used as a stepping stone... And he treated her like that, even though he knew NOTHING about her.

She already knew that simple words and promises without the strength to back them up accomplished nothing... That just wanting something didn't make it likely to become true if you didn't fight for it. She didn't need Katsuki to tell her that. She had already learned it by herself.

She also knew something that Katsuki didn't... The meaning of her _new Deku..._

Green energy surrounded her legs. Then she leaned forwards and jumped past Katsuki, landing with ease at the end of the corridor.

She then turned and looked him directly at his red angry eyes. Her own radiating with burning rage.

Katsuki had always had a great talent for bringing out the worst in people.

"Sorry, Kaachan but I'm here, and I don't plan to go anywhere else!"

* * *

**I-I'm dying... Dammit, this wasn't supposed to be 5k words long...**

**I hope you have liked it. **

**Let your reviews; tell me, did you liked Tsuyu and Izumi's little discussion? What about the exchange with Katsuki?**

**Also, don't forget to follow and favorite. ****Have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**To 03/24/2020:**

_**Reviews: **_**19**

_**Favorite: **_**132**

_**Followers: **_**198**

_**Reads:**_** 7307**

**Thanks for all your support! Especially guest, Yohnos, EndlessChains, and Kaiya Azure for the reviews!**

_**guest**_**: As you'll see, Izumi has a better control of One For All than Izuku!**

_**Kaiya Azure**_**: Haha, you are for a surprise!**

_**Yohnos**_**: I hope you like this chapter then! Between this one and the next well know a bit more about Katsuki's past behavior in this AU.**

_**EndlessChains**_**: Thanks for the constant support. I hope you'll like this chapter. Especially the fight scene!**

* * *

**HAHAHAHAHA! And I was whining about the previous chapter being over 3000 words... *cries in a corner***

**The fact is that for this chapter there just wasn't an adequate part for me to cut it, and I didn't want to leave you with another cliff hanger, so HERE IT IS...! The full Izumi vs Katsuki!**

**In any case, I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Recipro Burst!"

Tsuyu jumped out of the way, only a moment before Tenya's foot reduced the wall beside her to chunks. Then she wrapped her tongue around his other foot to destabilize him. That and the great momentum he had accumulated made him stumble through the damaged wall, making her flinch at the sound of the boy striking a column on the other side.

It was only a question of time for her to reclaim victory. After all, things had gone just as Izumi expected. No surprise there.

Tenya couldn't do an appropriate use of his speed in such narrow hallways, while they worked perfectly for her jumps.

She only needed to be careful. If the engines in Tenya's calves worked as regular engines, then he shouldn't be able to use them for too much without eventually overheating them or something similar. And that would be the moment for her to strike!

* * *

_"...Y-You seriously want me to punch you?"_

_It was about two weeks before UA's entrance exam, and a month after receiving One For All and experiencing in her own arms and legs what the Symbol of Hope's power could do, that her mentor gave her such an outrageous task._

_"Yes, young Midoriya." Said the man in his skeletal form. "You have gotten considerably proficient compared to when we started. So we need to take the next step."_

_"I-I'm just going to break my arm again." She said nervously, remembering how much that had hurt._

_"No. I think it will work fine this time." She looked at him with curiosity. "I have been thinking about it since the incident in our training two days ago..." She cringed at the memory._

_She just got THIS close to hitting a poor dog by accident while practicing with her Delaware Smash. Fortunately, she somehow regulated the energy used at the last second so the only thing her technique did was scare the animal. _

_But surprisingly, despite the resulting pain, her finger didn't break. So no more visits to Recovery Girl. Thank God, she was kind of scared of the old woman..._

_Since then, as All Might recommended, she continued her training while maintaining the event present in her mind. It was bizarre, but it worked and she didn't break her fingers anymore._

_"It seems to me, young Midoriya, that you subconsciously regulate One For All's power when you fear severely hurting someone else... Even though you rarely make the same consideration for yourself." He directed an amused but worried look at her._

_"S-Sorry." She avoided his eyes and looked at her feet instead._

_"It's fine. Any hero aspiring to be the Symbol of Hope needs the quality of self-sacrifice... Just be careful and think about your wellbeing too... As few as it is, this old man still has some time left." He chuckled softly._

_"You are not that old." She murmured, upset. After the ten months of training, the hero had become a more important and present father-figure for her than her actual father... So it didn't sit well with her when the man said stuff like that... As if he was just going to die soon._

_"Haha, In any case." He took his hero form. "__**WE SHOULD START.**__" He opened his palm and moved it towards her. "__**HERE.**__**PUNCH USING YOUR CURRENT MAXIMUM.**__"_

_"A-Are you sure?" She asked nervously. And when the hero smiled brightly, Izumi put a serious expression, the picture of her mentor in his sickly real form flashing through her mind, and then she threw her punch._

_The moment it connected with All Might's palm, it resulted in a deafening sound, causing fear invading her mind for an instant because of the possible consequences..._

_And then she noticed that pain aside, her arm was completely unharmed._

_She did it. She suppressed the damage that One For All caused on her body._

_"__**HAH... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!**__" The hero chucked proudly. Stopping only when he started coughing blood._

_"A-ALL MIGHT!"_

* * *

Izumi didn't take away her eyes from Katsuki, and how his body tensed.

"Dammit, Deku. Move...! I'm already getting fucking tired of seeing your stupid, ugly face in my way."

"I'm thinking the same, Kaachan." Her voice sounded so cold that she surprised even herself.

"...This is the last chance I'll give you." Katsuki's red eyes promised pain, as well as the sizzling noise that accompanied the brief explosions surging on his right arm. "GET-THE-FUCK-OUTTA-HERE."

It was funny... In the past she would have been absolutely terrified of him.

The truth is that she had never been the victim of his Quirk's attacks but once before, and that occasion was a genuine accident... But she eventually was a witness of the damage and pain Katsuki could cause to others. And she still received his threats and some looks that made her feel as if her blood was about to freeze...

But right now... She couldn't care less about what Katsuki did or say.

"Make me." That phrase ended the little patience Katsuki still had.

"Fucking fine." He walked again, initially dragging his feet. "Just don't regret this later, nerd!" Then he began picking up speed until he started running.

And once he was close enough he created an explosion, impulsing himself forwards to strike her with a right hook... Just as he always.

Instead of backing up as most people would do, she actually dived forwards, Katsuki_'s_ attack passing over her head, and then side-stepped, positioning herself to his left.

"DETROIT...!" She took advantage of his opening and punched at his side. Initially, when it connected, it didn't feel that different to a regular punch, but then One For All_'_s energy flowed through her arm, focusing in her fist, and then it happened. "SMASH!" With a boom, the full force of her strengthened punch thrust Katsuki through the hallways.

It was only thanks to some perfectly timed explosions that he stabilized himself and could land on his feet.

"...I h-hope you will not regret this either." She said, noticing the way he cringed in pain before he put on his perpetual hateful scowl.

"Y-You... Fucking nerd." He grunted, locking his eyes with hers.

She remained still, waiting for his next move.

"DIE!" He created two explosions to propel himself at a greater velocity. But this time she wasn't going to let him get closer.

"DELAWARE SMASH!" She flicked her finger and the resulting wind blast caught Katsuki in mid-flight, forcing him back to the ground, where he landed on his feet again. "SMASH!" She repeated her move with a different finger. And Katsuki was forced to cover himself with his arms and try to advance blindly through the gale to stop it from pushing him away.

Sawing her opportunity, she charged her feet with One For All and jumped towards Katsuki, the gale she coursed through increasing her speed even more.

Katsuki didn't see her coming until the last moment, but it was too late for him to block her dropkick, which hit his head with all the accumulated momentum.

Any other opponent would have been instantly knocked out after such an attack. But Katsuki was Katsuki, and there were few people in the world with a tougher skull than him.

So before she could land, Katsuki grabbed her leg, twirled her around, and launched her to the wall. Her head hitting first.

Izumi felt her consciousness slip away for a second. She blinked slowly and looked at the guy in front of her. His red eyes burning, even redder than the blood flowing from the cut over his eyebrow that her feet had caused.

And this time it was Izumi the one that wasn't able to react.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

* * *

One thing Tsuyu had noticed fast was that Tenya was the kind of opponent that got easy to deal with in the long run...

She had continued the game of the cat and mouse, Tenya looking progressively more exhausted by the minute. To the point, he hadn't used his max-speed in a while.

Besides that, as fast as he was, not only his movements weren't that varied, but Tenya also had the bad habit to telegraph most of his attacks.

So she had 100% of probabilities to dodge when he threw another kick at her.

Then she suddenly felt _it_. A weird pressure and numbness in her chest. It disturbed her how alien it felt. So much, that she almost got hit by Tenya, dodging only at the last second.

_'What was that?' _It wasn't a physical sensation, not hers at least. Because her body was perfectly fine. _'...Izumi.' _The face of the girl she fell in love with flashed in her mind and she was sure of it.

Izumi was feeling pain.

She didn't understand how she knew it. And her parents didn't tell her anything about such a thing.

But she knew that Izumi was in danger, and she needed to help her.

"Stop running from me, villain! Confront your sins and fight as a proper human being!" Yelled Tenya.

"But I refuse... I'm a frog, kero."

But she had to defeat Tenya first.

* * *

The oversized explosion hit Izumi with enough force to make her go through the wall, which broke as if it was made from cardboard.

She hit the ground on the other side, feeling pain everywhere...

Except for some small scorched parts here and there, her uniform relatively endured the explosion. But her torso still felt as if she was hit with a battering ram.

It felt awful. So much, that she could feel the tears about to spill from her eyes... But she had felt worse before, both physically and emotionally.

She slowly stood up. And her eyes immediately fixed on the other side of the wall where Katsuki was.

Her eyes flashed with defiance, while his contained a mixture of almost every negative emotion possible for a human being.

"Give up, Deku. You won't hit me again." He brushed the blood from his face and walked through the hole.

"H-Heroes don't give up."

With no more words, Katsuki advanced again, repeating the same attack he did at the start of their fight. But when he was about to get to her, he followed with a second explosion that propelled himself over her head. She immediately turned around just to find him about to shoot another explosion, this time aimed at her back.

Despite her reaction, Katsuki's attack hit true. But as she fell to the ground a second time, Izumi shot another Delaware Smash at him, making him crash against a column.

"I-I'm not... going to b-be the only one hurt after this."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the observation rooms, the rest of 1-A class watched the fights.

They certainly couldn't be more contrasting.

Tsuyu had a huge edge on Tenya, so the boy's winning possibilities relied only on luck and taking advantage of how the frog-girl suddenly seemed weirdly distracted while fighting.

_'Is she hurt?' _Thought All Might. _'I don't think young Iida has connected a single hit in all the exercise.'_

Meanwhile, Izumi and Katsuki seemed to be on equal foot.

The boy was obviously better at controlling his Quirk and had a greater mobility than Izumi, but she still kept up with him no matter how many hits she received... She always stood up again and made sure of return the favor to him.

Both teens' endurance and pain tolerance were probably at the same level.

However...

There was something weird about it. Something only All Might and some of the students with more fighting experience could notice.

_'Oh, no... You are committing a colossal mistake, young Bakugou... I just hope young Midoriya doesn't notice it.'_

But that was just too much to ask.

* * *

Katsuki and Izumi were fighting at close quarters.

That normally would be to Katsuki's advantage. But it wasn't the case this time.

For the first time in all their fight, Izumi's movements were now slightly awkward and full of openings... And she was doing it completely on purpose.

Because she knew any person who wasn't a complete numbskull would try to take advantage of those openings or at least try to test if they were real or just a trick.

...But Katsuki wasn't doing anything.

She threw a punch at his face, which he evaded easily, propelling himself backward. The explosion making Izumi stumble a bit.

Then Katsuki landed swiftly and smirked at her.

"What?! Are you finally regretting being such a loser...?!"

Anyone that cared for anything more than themselves would have noticed the frown that made its home on Izumi's face a long while ago, turning colder and darker by the minute.

Besides how tense she was and the way her body shivered, her increasing anger so obvious that anyone with eyes would have noticed.

But Katsuki didn't.

"You are getting fucking slow Deku!" He frowned when she didn't talk back at him. "And apparently mute too...! Don't you have anything to say-?!"

"Shut up." She said.

"Wha-?"

"**JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!**"

* * *

"...Did Deku-chan just cursed?" Asked Ochako, feeling astonished. Her friend wasn't acting at all as the shy, polite person she was anymore.

"HOW MANLY!"

"Kirishima-san, this is not the moment."

"Oh, hoho, some blondie is about to get his ass kicked!" Said Ashido.

_'Seems it's too late now.' _All Might sighed while his students were distracted by the events on the screens. _'The wrath of a woman can be an unstoppable force, young Bakugou. Now you have to take responsibility for your actions.'_

* * *

"You...! You are possibly the worst non-villain person that I had ever met in all my life!"

"What...?!"

"I KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING...!" She yelled at Katsuki. Her face distorted in an expression of hate he would have never expected in someone like her.

"What the fuck are you spouting, bitch?!"

"THAT YOU WERE GOING EASY ON ME!" She clasped her fist so hard that her hand hurt.

Katsuki's eyes went wide at her words.

"...I j-just trained and trained. I gave everything I had, sweat, blood, and tears, and continued giving my all even after I could barely keep moving and breathing... Even after m-my arms and legs literally broke...! And I still did it, again and again, non-stopping! All for an opportunity to be HERE!" Then her tears dropped. "And I a-always knew this encounter was going to happen... That you would be one of the challenges I would need to o-overcome to be a hero. And I expected that when it finally happened it w-would be SO cathartic...! But you had to ruin even that for me!"

"What...? Are you fucking high?!"

"I hate you, Katsuki**.**" Her expression turned disturbingly blank. "Whatever little appreciation I still felt for you just died... Because e-even though I expected you to be a complete and mocking bastard, I at least thought you would fight me seriously... But you couldn't even do that for me. You acted like the lowest scum p-possible and just pulled your punches, t-treating me as if I was made of crystal..." A green electric current started coursing around Izumi's body. "**And I won't forgive you for that ever!**"

Izumi blurred out of existence and reappeared in front of him. His reflexes activated just in time to connect a punch and explosion straight to the girl's face.

That would have knocked anyone out easily or would at least make them stumble.

Instead, Katsuki received a kick in the jaw that made him crash against the ceiling. And before he could even hit the ground a punch connected with his stomach smashing him against a wall.

...While her opponent twitched on the ground, Izumi tore the scorched mask from her uniform and took out her capture band.

She was exhausted and felt a weird heaviness in her body... It was because of what she did... She didn't know how, but just for a moment there, she moved as fast as All Might could. And now her body was obviously close to its limit because of it.

The only reason she could still be on her feet was because of the adrenaline fueling her.

_"__**A HERO HAS BEEN CAPTURED!**__"_ Announced suddenly All Might through her earphones. _**"FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THE END OF THE EXERCISE.**__" _She smiled... Tsuyu won, just as she expected.

Slightly relieved, Izumi advanced towards Katsuki as fast as she could.

But of course, nothing could be that easy.

"...Y-You must be joking!" Somehow still conscious, Katsuki aimed an explosion to the ground that pushed him up. But his stance looked so lacking and fragile, as though he were to fall on his knees at any second. "I'm not going to leave this shit end like this..." Then he extended his right arm in her direction and moved his other hand to his gauntlet.

"What are you doing...?" She asked, feeling too tired to deal with the blond guy.

"What? Don't you recognize it?" He asked with an ugly bloody smirk on his face. "It fucking annoys me to say it, but I based it on one of your stupid designs. I simply made it more bad-ass looking and the Support Department did the rest."

Izumi observed the grenade-looking gauntlet, which she had ignored until that moment, and noticed how Katsuki was grabbing the pin on it.

Then everything made sense.

_'Oh, no.'_

* * *

Tsuyu_'s_ kick connected with the back of Tenya_'s_ head and he collapsed on the ground like a potato bag.

She didn't waste a second to wrap the boy_'s_ hands and feet with the capture band.

_"__**A HERO HAS BEEN CAPTURED! FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THE END OF THE EXERCISE."**_

"Fine, there's still time." She sighed and then tried to walk away. She wasn't only exhausted but also worried and stressed because of the weird sensations that she had been feeling, which only had become more intense in the last minutes...

"STOP THERE, YOU CRIMINAL!" Yelled Tenya. Tsuyu could only sigh again.

"...Tenya-chan." She turned around.

"How could you do this to me?! Is there no end to your twistedness?!" The guy crept on the floor like an oversized worm.

"Tenya-chan." She repeated, but he ignored her.

"But I will not fall victim to your mind games. I will endure anything you do to me until my partner-!"

"Iida!" She yelled.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"...You were captured, kero. So you don't need to keep acting like that."

"Is that so?" Tenya tilted his head. He was almost like a puppy. A huge and incredibly dumb one.

"...Yes."

Then she felt her earphone activate.

_"__**Tsu.**__"_ It was Izumi's voice. And she didn't sound particularly good.

"Izumi-chan?!"

_"__**You n-need to move yourself and Iida-san far away from the north-east p-part of the building**__." _Her voice tense.

"Eh...? I already am... Why?" She asked, but she didn't receive any answer.

Then she knew something terrible was about to happen.

* * *

"What? Did you already warned frog-face, so she doesn't end up roasted?" Izumi frowned at his words.

How dare he insult her friend...! She would leave no damage to come to Tsuyu or Tenya because of their quarrels.

"S-Stop with this ridiculousness!" She said more annoyed than angry. What was he pretending to gain from something like that? "You are going to throw the entire building on us!"

"AS IF!" He snorted. "I'm not a fucking idiot, Deku." He certainly seemed so. "There's no important column around. Even if I blow this corner of the building, nothing will happen!"

"ARE YOU EVEN HEARING YOURSELF?!" She yelled at him, finally losing her patience. "A-Are you truly such an idiot?!"

"THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD SAY!" He yelled back. "You are the stupid one here! A stupid useless naive little girl that thinks she can be a hero only because one day she pulled an equally stupid useless Quirk out her ass!" She ground her teeth, almost wishing to throw him out of the building to shut him up.

"SHUT UP, KATSUKI! YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!"

"AND YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE WORLD...!" He shot two explosions to his sides, blowing up both walls. "Just fucking look at yourself!" She didn't need to. She knew she was a mess. "You were spouting shit about me not taking your sorry ass seriously, but how the hell can I...?" He looked at her with a disgusted expression. "You had been acting like the big shit because you hit me once or twice, but what do you think?!" He smiled wildly, extending his arms as if welcoming her. "I can keep with this shit for the rest of the fucking day if I wanted, bitch! My fucking mom punches harder than you...!" Then he turned somber again. "But you...? You can barely fucking stand and half of that shit is your own fucking fault... The fucking world is not a friendly place to weaklings like you, Deku! The real villains out there won't spare your life just because you are a kind-hearted idiot...! So tell me... DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK SOMEONE LIKE YOU CAN BE A HERO...?!"

She glared at him. And she absolutely hated that he was partly true.

She was still a novice at controlling One For All. Not good enough to be at the same level as Katsuki. So she truly wouldn't have caused him that much damage if he had fought seriously from the start.

However, that was the only thing of his words she would accept.

"I DON'T _THINK_, I KNOW FOR SURE THAT I CAN!"

"...You stupid idiot." He ground his teeth, unbelieving.

"This is my life, Katsuki. And I'm tired of being just an extra on my own story, understand it from a goddam time...! I'm not the same weak little girl whose life you used to mess with all your passive-aggressive bullshit. And I will not be the same girl _barely standing_ in front of you the day of tomorrow. Every day I'll be stronger than the previous one, much stronger than you ever dream of, and one day I'll show you what my _DEKU_ truly means!"

"Then show it to me now!" He extended his right arm at her again. "Show me you aren't the absolute loser I think you are and stop my attack using yours...! Or just run away with your fucking tail between your legs as an irredeemable coward... BUT FUCKING BELIEVE IT! IF YOU DO THAT, I WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU, DEKU!"

There was only silence for some seconds, and then she changed her stance.

"Katsuki... I really hate you." She charged her arm with One for All.

"NO, SHIT!" He smirked and finally retired the pin from his gauntlet.

The explosion that resulted was of ridiculous proportions, and it advanced towards her, destroying everything in its path.

She should have felt scared. But she was busier feeling simply annoyed at the whole situation.

...Katsuki had always had a great talent for bringing out the worst in people.

"DETROIT SMASH!" She threw her punch, focussing on the maximum power she could control without hurting herself too much, and felt the recoil and pain throwing her to the ground.

Her attack advanced swiftly through the hallway and impacted the center of Katsuki's explosion. For a moment she feared it would be absorbed, but soon enough it pierced through the explosion and destabilize it, resulting in the dissipation of a part of the energy, while the rest changed its direction to upwards and downwards the building. It seemed to damage various floors, but just as Katsuki had claimed, the building remained standing.

Meanwhile, she was sprawled on the floor. Full of pain and deafened because of the booming sound occurring so close to her.

Soon, her hearing recuperated enough for her to hear the voice in her earphones.

"**T-THE TIME'S UP!**" Said All Might, sounding worried despite his usual energy. "**BECAUSE THE HEROES LOST A MEMBER AND DIDN'T SECURED THE BOMB, THE VICTORY IS FOR THE VILLAINS!**" She smiled weakly at that. At least they won... "**NOW, IF IS NEEDED, WE'LL SEND HELP TO CARRY YOUNG MIDORIYA.**" She smiled again and touched her earphone.

"...I'm fine, Yag-, I m-mean All Might-sensei... I only need a bit of time to rest."

But soon enough, she noticed steps getting closer.

"Huh?" She tried to lift her head a bit and saw her froggy-looking exercise partner running to her. "Tsu?"

"I-Izumi-chan!" Tsuyu squatted at her side and looked at her damaged body, her eyes about to cry. She was obviously scared and seemed restless, as if she wanted to just hug her, but didn't want to hurt her even more.

"...I-I'm fine." She said, slowly sitting, trying to keep the pain she felt off her expression.

"...Your right arm." Said the frog girl softly.

Then Izumi slowly looked at it, expecting the worst...

But the damage wasn't that bad, actually.

Her glove and sleeve were completely obliterated by her previous attack, revealing her scarred arm.

It was bruised, and she felt pain, of course. But it didn't look or hurt as bad as usual.

She could even move it and her fingers normally. So apparently nothing was broken or dislocated...

"I-I've felt worse." She said trying to encourage the other girl to relax. Instead, Tsuyu hugged her softly while crying.

It hurt a bit... But she didn't want the girl to stop. It was nice. And it was easier to ignore the pain when she focused on the warmth.

Sadly, after a moment the frog-girl let go.

They sat silently, one in front of each other. Now that she was more relaxed, she could only feel dumb and embarrassed for letting Katsuki -who seemed to have vanished from the scene- rile her up that much.

That hardly would have happened with someone like Tsuyu around to keep her from doing something reckless or stupid... But they probably wouldn't have won in such a scenario.

She didn't really know what to say.

"H-Hey, w-we won!" She said dumbly, receiving an unamused glare. "...I-I'll better j-just shut up..." Tsuyu looked at her with a slightly exasperated smile and sighed.

"Yes, we won, kero. Your plan went just as you expected. Now... I wonder if it was under your predictions to wreck yourself and disintegrate Bakugou."

"I k-knew I would not end unscathed... And I didn't d-disintegrate anyone!" At least she thought so...

"Yeah." She seemed to read her thoughts because she added. "Tenya-chan should come down now that All Might-sensei announced the end of the exercise. And about Katsuki, I was joking of course. I think I saw him jumping down the hole you two made."

"W-Why would he do that?"

"I think you said he was a sore loser, kero."

"Uh, yeah. I did." She tried to stand up for herself, but her legs felt weak.

"Let me." Tsuyu stood up and extended her arm to her. It was then that Izumi fully noticed in what a perfect state the frog-girl was.

Tsuyu was a bit sweaty, but Izumi couldn't detect any kind of bruise or damage on her. She had definitely curb-stomped the poor Tenya.

It has been a terrible match for him. But it reminded her once again of how behind she was compared to her peers...

But what she told to Katsuki was the truth. She wasn't going to allow herself to be this weak... She would continue growing up stronger every day... She had to.

She took Tsuyu's hand, and the frog-girl pulled her.

"S-Sorry." Because of her weakened legs, she found herself again in the arms of the frog girl. But this time their faces ended up closer to each other. So she carefully took a step back. "I think I m-may have sprained my left leg."

"N-No problem." Tsuyu blushed. "Here." She moved to her left and locked arms with her. "I can help you walk, kero."

"T-Thanks." She smiled. Her day was getting brighter.

* * *

When Tsuyu's fist encountered Izumi on the floor, she almost fainted. Just that image brought an irrational fear to her mind, even knowing that she was still alive. It was just difficult to think clearly while feeling that heaviness growing on her chest the closer she got to the girl.

Fortunately, that awful sensation had already vanished while they walked, arms linked, to the building exit.

And once she was less worried, she felt flustered about the feeling of her closeness to Izumi. Besides, she confirmed her previous theory, Izumi clearly had the physique of a fighter. Her arms being muscled and well-built.

However, there was something that caught her attention the most.

It was how damaged her right arm was...

She knew that Izumi had broken her arms before. She said it herself... But Tsuyu sure didn't expect it to be that bad.

Her arm was covered in long thick scars. And what probably was once a thin delicate hand, now was hardened and slightly twisted.

Now it finally made sense for Tsuyu why Izumi always used long sleeves and gloves.

"I-I'm sorry..." Suddenly Izumi moved her right arm out of Tsuyu's gaze.

"Kero?"

"S-Sorry to gross you out. I-..." Without warning, Izumi tried to free her other arm, but she didn't let her.

"I don't found your arms gross, kero." Izumi looked incredulous.

"...T-They are ugly. I have too m-many scars and my hands..."

"They look cool." She said, unlinking her arm from Izumi's, and grabbing her hand instead. Her thumb slowly caressing the girl's palm. "Kinda cute actually..."

"C-C-CUTE?!" She looked away, her cheeks blushed. "N-No way..."

"They are cute to me, kero." It was the truth. She always had a likeness for gap-moe. "All of you are cute to me, actually." She recognized causing Izumi to look at her with a surprised expression. Then Izumi looked at her feet, a tiny smile on her face, and gave Tsuyu's hand a tentative squeeze.

Her day was getting brighter, too.

* * *

**And we come to the end of this chapter!**

**If you expected more "screen time" for Tsuyu vs Iida, I apologize. The truth is that at the moment of writing this chapter I realized that I truly didn't know how to write that particular fight. To put it somehow, because of how boring it suddenly seemed in my mind.**

**Example: Tsuyu escapes from Iida. Iida chases her and attacks. She avoids it and counterattacks... Then repeat again and again until Iida gets tired and loses... And that's it. Boring, right? Maybe someone with more expertise in writing action scenes would have made a better job. But for me, the main thing was the fight between Izumi and Katsuki. So I mostly focused on it. I hope to have made a good job. So leave your opinions about it!**

**And talking about that. Maybe some of you think that Izumi was kind of out of character during the fight... And that was kind of the point. Like with canon Izuku, when he acts all reckless and rude while kind-of imitating Katsuki. It's the same... But worse... A LOT WORSE... Think of the angry All Might during the USJ attack but on the body of an overly emotional teenage girl, and what you get is a really scary and pissed-off Izumi, haha.**

**Anyway, favorite, follow, and let your comments and critiques in reviews!**

**And if you want to support me, you can donate to my Ko-Fi. The link on my profile!**


	6. AN

Hi, guys. How are you doing?

This AN is because I just noticed a really important mistake on my part I need to correct...

...

...

...

**I have been writing al this chapters using the wrong ****onomatopoeia for Tsuyu´s ribbit sound: Gero instead of Kero.**

...

...

...

No. Really. Thats it. Im going to start correcting that, lol.

Have a nice day!


	7. Chapter 6

**To 11th July, 2020.**

_**Reviews: 31**_

_**Favorite: 243**_

_**Followers: 161**_

_**Views:**_** 10890**

**Thanks for the support and all your reviews!**

**Also, I would like you to take a moment to answer the poll in my profile. How would you prefer Tsuyu's croaking to sound? Do you like "Kero", or should I change it to "Ribbit"?**

**Okay, let's start!**

* * *

When the girls arrived back to the observation room their loudest classmates intercepted them.

"That was really manly, Midoriya!" Said Eijiro with excitement.

"Yeah, girl!" Continue Mina. "I knew you were strong but damn! You and Bakugou almost leveled the building!"

"Yeah, that was scary but cool... Kinda sexy too." That was Denki's contribution.

Enough for Tsuyu to put him in her blacklist along with Mineta.

"...Guys, I think she is more beaten up than we thought." Added Jiro. Then they noticed Izumi's arm, and their expressions turned grim.

"A-Are you fine, Deku-chan?!" "Midoriya-san!" Yelled Ochako, pushing Kaminari out of the way to get closer, with Iida just some steps behind her.

Their more reserved classmates simply observed with worry from a distance.

Katsuki wasn't in the room.

In any case, before they could continue gushing around Izumi, All Might approached. "**YOUNG MIDORIYA!**"

"G-Guys, don't worry, I'm fine!" After a tentative look to Tsuyu, Izumi lifted it slowly to show her point. "I-It's not even broken."

"**STILL, YOU SHOULD GO TO THE INFIRMARY SO RECOVERY GIRL CAN TAKE A LOOK.**" That was enough to make Izumi flinch.

_'Izumi-chan fears her...? Weird, kero.' _

"B-But if I go, I won't hear our results... And Recovery Girl probably won't let me back to see the next battles." She said, pouting slightly. Tsuyu could only blush at witnessing such an adorable expression.

"**DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT, YOUNG MIDORIYA! TOMORROW YOU**'**LL RECEIVE THE RECORDINGS OF THIS EXERCISE.**" Said All Might in his always confident tone.

Though he was avoiding Izumi's gaze, so apparently not even he was immune to her pouting face. _'Such a frightening weapon, kero!'_

"All Might-sensei. Can I help Izumi-chan along the way? Her feet are bruised too, kero."

"Eh, actually I can walk better already-. T-TSU?!" She latched tightly on her Izumi'sgood arm.

"**THAT'S NICE OF YOU, YOUNG ASUI! WELL, GO AHEAD!**"

And so she did... While trying to avoid looking at Izumi's sad puppy eyes.

Just when they were in front of infirmary, the door opened bluntly and Katsuki came out.

He looked the same as always. The only visible signs of the previous fight were his bruised lip and the band-aid over his eyebrow.

Izumi's expression turned serious, while Tsuyu glared at him.

What was his reaction...? He just squinted his eyes and stared back at them. Then, he walked away.

"...Do you think he'll stop being such a colossal idiot, kero?" Tsuyu asked when he wasn't visible anymore.

"Hmm. I d-don't think that's physically possible for him." Izumi answered, half-joking. "But at least, maybe he'll stop underestimating me and everyone else so much."

Tsuyu didn't believe that'll happen... Or at least not so fast.

But that was fine too if it meant to have Katsuki getting his ass kicked, eventually.

* * *

It only took Tsuyu a few minutes to understand that the old nurse knew Izumi from before. And she didn't know if giggling or take pity on Izumi because of the current situation.

In the end, she could only remain silent while the nurse chewed Izumi for her actions.

"...Well. Surprisingly, no bone is broken." Commented Recovery Girl with a sigh.

"That's good!" Said Izumi, relieved, while sitting on one of the infirmary beds.

"It's not, you reckless girl!" The nurse hit the poor freckled girl with her cane. "Your bones are fine, but in exchange, you are now damaging your muscles."

"I-I see."

"No. You don't." The old woman frowned. "Yours is a Grade 1 injury; mild damage to the muscle fibers. Which would mean about a month of light physical activity to recover without my Quirk's help. Now, a Grade 2? Extensive damage, resulting in 2 to 3 months of complete rest... But a Grade 3 injury...?"

"H-Half a year of recovering?"

"Grade 3. Complete rupture of the muscle. It would require surgery." Izumi flinched in clear fear. "I'm sure you don't want to pass through that... Again." That made Tsuyu open her eyes wide and look at Izumi with worry. Noticing how the other girl just stared at her scarred arms.

_'Oh. So those scars...' _Tsuyu gulped, feeling cold and scared. Just the thought of Izumi in such pain made her feel sick.

Recovery Girl sighed again. "Just rest in here for this period... If you take it easy, you should be fine by tomorrow." With that, the old woman walked away, leaving them alone...

Wanting to finish with the awkward and depressing atmosphere of the room, Tsuyu got closer to the bed.

They looked at each other, and then she took out her shoes and sat beside Izumi. The bed was small, so they were close to each other.

"Tsu?" The girl looked at her curiously.

Suddenly, Tsuyu hugged Izumi from her side, the other girl letting out a little yelp. "Don't be sad. You'll be fine, kero."

"B-But you heard Recovery Girl." She shooked her head and looked away. "I need to get better at using my Quirk, or I could hurt m-myself or someone else badly."

"You need practice, yeah. But you did your part and dealt with Bakugou. So I would say you aren't as bad as you think, Izumi-chan."

"I know I'm not... But I'm still not where I want to be." Tsuyu frowned. Izumi was being too hard on herself, though she supposed it was difficult not to when you had a constant reminder of your failures in your arms... Also, Tsuyu doubted Izumi had received many words of support before.

"But you'll be... And if you want, I can help." She hugged her tighter. "So have more confidence in yourself, kero." Izumi finally smiled.

"Thanks, Tsu."

"You feel better?" She stopped the hug.

Izumi nodded but kept on looking at her.

"Kero?"

"...I apologize if I'm being too forwards but, eh, could you do that again?" She whispered while looking at her feet. "T-The hug... It was nice." Izumi's face was as red as her shoes.

"K-Kero! It would be a pleasure."

* * *

Izumi and she were now eating in the cafeteria along with Ochako and Iida, discussing the results of the exercise.

"So I was the MVP, kero?" Tsuyu asked with surprise.

"Why are you so surprised? You were amazing, Tsu-chan!"

"S-She is right, Tsu. You pulled off the plan perfectly."

"Yeah, I have to recognize you put me in quite a troublesome situation, Asui-kun." Iida nodded.

"Call me Tsu. And well, I just followed Izumi-chan's plan, so it's weird for me to take all the credit."

"I-It's not... I know you had certain doubts about my plan. So you could have done as Katsuki did with Iida-san, and ignore me and the plan."

"...I would be a terrible partner if I had done that." She said, frowning.

"E-Exactly! But instead, you trusted me and did your part! That makes you deserving of being the MVP." Tsuyu blushed.

"S-Still, I dislike that you aren't given any credit at all, kero."

"T-That is my own fault." Izumi said, flustered. "I let myself get pulled into Katsuki's mind games... I should have remained calm and ignore his taunting. But I didn't and we end up causing a lot of damage to the structure. So logically, I couldn't be the MVP."

"That surprised me a lot! I didn't know you could swear like that, Deku-chan!"

"Eh, Izumi-chan swore?" Tsuyu couldn't imagine her doing such a thing.

"Really!?" Iida was the same.

"Yes! It was pretty shocking!"

"P-Please don't continue, Uraraka-san!" Izumi begged. "It's embarrassing."

"Ah. Sorry, Deku-chan."

"...Hmm. D-Did you guys in the observation room heard everything Katsuki and I said?"

"Not everything. All Might-sensei muted the video." Izumi sighed in relief. "But in any case, all of you were amazing!" Ochako smiled brightly at them. "It would be great if you could give me some tips! I want to be a badass girl like you two!" She punched at the air excitedly.

After that, the conversation went to lighter topics, as their food, family, hobbies, etc. However, Tsuyu slowly noticed how Izumi was distracted or worried about something, constantly looking at her surroundings with a perplexed expression every few minutes.

"Are you fine, Izumi-chan?" She asked in a whisper, while Iida and Uraraka chatted with each other.

"Eh?"

"Is something the matter?"

"Ah. No, I'm fine, don't worry."

"Izumi-chan." She insisted.

"...S-Sorry. It's just... I felt like if someone was observing me." Tsuyu blinked. "But every time I looked around, I couldn't find anyone doing it... Weird, right?"

"Not really. It's said that there's always someone looking at you. But maybe that person wasn't looking at you specifically but just in your general direction, kero."

"Oh, you may be right." Her expression relaxed. "Thanks, Tsu... And sorry for bothering you with my silly worries."

"Nothing of you is silly, so don't hesitate to _'bother'_ me, kero." She said with a smile, successfully reassuring Izumi that everything was alright... But she didn't believe so.

Izumi had excellent instincts, so if she thought someone was looking at her furtively, then that was probably the case.

So when the girl joined Ochako and Iida's conversation, Tsuyu took the opportunity to look around, trying to detect anyone suspicious.

It only took her a pair of seconds to find five possible suspects sitting on a close table.

They were their age. Their group was formed by three guys; one with a ponytail, one that looked like an insect, and a feral-looking one. And two girls; one with an equine-like face and horns, and a regular-looking girl with green curly hair.

All of them were looking at Izumi. That was a fact. But while the horse girl and the guys -especially the one with the pony-tail- seemed simply curious. The green-haired girl looked at Izumi as a hunter stalking her prey... It both angered and unnerved Tsuyu greatly.

Looking around some more, she found other students glancing at Izumi with curiosity. And practically all of them had in common an animal mutation.

She felt like an idiot for not noticing this the previous day... And the implications made her uneasy.

"Kero." She stood up.

"Eh, Tsu?"

"Sorry, Izumi-chan. I forgot I had somewhere else to be, but it won't take much. See you later." She smiled at her friends and then moved to a table occupied by a very distinctive group of her classmates: Mezo, Fumikage, Koji, and Mashirao. All of which were observing Izumi before. "...Can I sit for a moment, kero?" They nodded and she sat with them. "I suppose you guy are the same as me, kero?" She asked, her tone was neutral but sharp. Because if she was right, then around 20-25% of the school population were now her rivals.

At her question, Mezo was thoughtful, while Mashirao and Koji looked flustered. And Fumikage...

"When Icaro flew towards the sun he didn't think once on the possibility of burning his wings. He was just too fascinated by the pureness of Elios' mighty light to stop his flight because of such nonsense." Said the raven boy, just being himself.

"Man, don't say ominous stuff like that when the mood is already weird." Rebutted Mashirao.

"...Asui-san, you seem on the defensive. But I think you are misunderstanding the situation."

"Then, you guys don't like Izumi-chan too?" Such a question made the four of them embarrassed. But specially Mashirao, who choked with his own saliva; and Koji, who shooked his head vigorously, red like a volcano about to ignite.

"Hmm... _'Too'?_... Thou said _**'too'.**__"_ Repeated Fumikage with a smug expression.

Tsuyu gulped, her cheeks red. _'I suppose that's out of the bag, kero.'_

"Back to your question." Interjected Mezo in a calming tone, sending a scolding glance at Fumikage. "Midoriya-san is an agreeable and kind person, so we don't dislike her in any way. But the answer to your question is _no_. We don't like her _romantically._"

"But then why were you staring at Izumi-chan so much...? Though, you weren't the only. Many people were doing it too, kero."

"Infinite light draws everlasting darkness." Recited Fumikage crossing his arms.

"Ah, What Tokoyami means is that Midoriya is 'interesting', in a weird sense." Added Mashirao.

"My animals are curious about her too." Said Koji in a quiet voice.

"It's like they say. There's something special about Midoriya-san that is making us, animal-type mutants, want to keep an eye on her and make sure she is safe and sound. Even if we don't completely understand why..." Finished Mezo.

"...Yeah. Watching her fight with Bakugou was really uncomfortable. That guy is awful..." Mashirao said with a frown and Koji nodded.

"A hideous monster can only hide in a hideous form." Said Fumikage.

Well, that was a relief. More people looking out for Izumi's safeness and no dozens of love-rivals for her.

"But from what you said, the way you feel about Midoriya-san is a lot different, right?" Questioned Mezo.

"K-Kero."

"It's fine, you don't need to answer if you don't want to." He said, and the rest gave her encouraging nods.

"Thanks, guys. And sorry for being rude before." She smiled at them. "...Hmm, Mezo-chan. Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you tell me something about that girl?" She subtly pointed at the green-haired girl from before.

That girl was the only person in the cafeteria looking at Izumi with lustful eyes. It made Tsuyu's stomach churn to see how that girl ogled at Izumi with a dumb smile on her face. _'I don't look at Izumi-chan like that, do I...? Because if I do, I really need to put myself together, kero.'_

"No problem." Mezo grew an extra eye and nose and pointed them in the girl's direction. He remained silent for a moment and then tilted his head. "Curious." He said, morphing his arms back to normal.

"What is it, kero?"

"Despite her normal appearance, she is an animal-type like us. And if I'm not wrong, she has a reptile mutation... The curious thing is that somehow she feels similar to you." Tsuyu frowned.

She had a rival after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, the conversation on Izumi's table continued. Though she was too distracted to take part in it.

She was too busy watching Tsuyu discuss with their classmates.

_'Tsu is amazing and friendly. I shouldn't be surprised that she has more friends.' _She bit her lip. _'Then, why do I feel bad about it?'_

* * *

**(Omake: AU if Izumi told Katsuki about OFA)**

* * *

"-And don't you dare get the idea that you'll ever beat me again...! Fuck!" Yelled Katsuki without even looking at her, and then finally walked away.

Izumi was both speechless and concerned. Maybe telling Katsuki the truth about her Quirk was a mistake...

"That sure was something, kero."

"Yeah." She nodded. "It wa- T-TSU?!" She turned around in complete surprise. "W-What are you doing here?!"

"Kero?" The girl touched her mouth with her index finger. "...I was walking to the train station like you, Izumi-chan."

"...H-How much you heard?" Izumi asked, sweating coldly. She couldn't be so bad at keeping secrets that already two classmates knew about OFA by her second day in UA!

"Hmm, not much. Barely got here to see how you made Katsuki cry."

"E-EH?! I didn't make him cry!"

"I'm pretty sure those were tears in his eyes. It's cool but worrying to know you can be mean when you want to, kero."

"Y-You are misunderstanding!" But she had no way to explain the situation without telling the truth. So she let it be.

Izumi even suspected the possibility that Tsuyu was lying.

_'Someone else gave Izumi-chan a Quirk...? That would explain a lot. And considering how similar their Quirks are, that person could be All Might-sensei, kero!' _Tsuyu gazed at the girl.

But if Izumi's bright smile was a sign, she would be a great successor.

* * *

**As its title says, the Omake is NOT canon for this fic. Basically, I had planned to include that scene before writing Izumi's fight vs Katsuki. Then I realized I didn't want Izumi's toxic rivalry with him to continue and just cut it off. Now, the poor girl at least need not worry about Katsuki meddling in OFA's business.**

**And about the thing of Izumi's influence on animal-type mutants, it was an idea proposed by **_**LesbianScientits**_** (FFN is not showing her review, WTF?!) that I liked a lot and decided to include! And if you are wondering,**_** "Is that a Quirk?!" **_**Well. I don't know, lol... You can consider it as such, but I probably won't get into the topic during the story... So for now, IT JUST WORKS!**

**As always; review, favorite, and follow! And if you want to support me, you can donate to my ko-fi. The link is on my profile.**

**Also, if you like fantasy writing, I would like to invite you to read my original Story **_**"The Union Forest", **_**that I'm starting to write and post on **_**Tapas**_**.**

**Have a nice day, guys.**


	8. Chapter 7

**To 08th October, 2020.**

_**Reviews: 34**_

_**Favorite: 188**_

_**Followers: 269**_

_**Views:**_** 14808**

* * *

**Ok. I hope this chapter won't be too fast-paced for you guys. I wanted to get some things out of the way to get faster to the Sports Festival. **

**I'm planning some nice changes, mwahahahahaha!**

* * *

"E-EH?! ME?!" Izumi couldn't believe this situation. It was too ridiculous to be real.

Of the twenty students in 1-A class, she was chosen as the class president.

To start with, Izumi hadn't been interested in being the class representative and felt poorly qualified for it... She still got ten votes, though.

"H-how?" It was flattering to have their classmates' trust, but it also was kind of unbelievable.

"You left a good impression yesterday, Izumi-chan," said Tsuyu, smiling comfortingly.

"I d-didn't even vote for myself..." she muttered, ignoring the amusement in the frog girl's croak.

Izumi liked the sound. It was cute, and it made her feel funny... A soothing kind of funny.

"You didn't, kero? Then, who did you vote for?"

"E-eh? I..." Suddenly, she was too busy examining the floor tiles while Tsuyu laughed softly.

That was going to be her second favorite sound in existence.

* * *

Later that morning, Aizawa made them review the recordings of the previous day's practice.

_'Oh, god...'_ It was uncomfortable for Izumi to realize how visceral her fight against Katsuki was now she rewatched it with a cold-head. Considering Tsuyu's reaction -stuck to her side, gripping her arm, and flinching every time Katsuki hit her in the video-, Izumi had to thank their teachers for at least cutting the audio.

The funny part is that despite everything, she had fought well. She even used OFA as All Might did, even if only for an instant and unaware of how she did it.

However, that didn't appease Tsuyu, who stared at her silently after the video finished.

"You d-did a good job with Iida-san, Tsu. Your reflex were-."

"Izumi." Tsuyu's voice was severe, making her gulp. "Distractions won't work."

"S-sorry." She lowered her gaze, ashamed. However, she suddenly felt Tsuyu's hand caressing the top of her head in an affectionate gesture. And there it was, that funny but pleasant feeling again.

"I'm not mad at you, Izumi-chan. I just want to know what happened with Bakugo, kero...? I can't understand why he dislikes you so much."

Tsuyu's touch made her relax, washing away the worries she had, and suddenly the prospect of talking with Tsuyu about her problems with Katsuki didn't seem a bad idea. It was weird, considering she hadn't talked of that with anyone before, not even with her mother.

"As weird as it m-may sound, he was trying to protect me. Or, well, at least he t-thinks he was."

Tsuyu was rendered speechless for a moment. Unable to understand such ridiculousness.

"That doesn't make sense, kero." It was the only thing she could say.

"It d-does, in a twisted way... Katsuki and I used to be friends when we were kids, but he changed a lot after getting his Quirk. He started b-believing that strength was the most important thing for a hero and couldn't allow himself any weakness if he wanted t-to be the best." Izumi frowned with remembrance. "He turned cruel and eventually distanced from me, telling me how he had no time to spare on w-weaklings." She felt angrier the more she talked, and Tsuyu seemed to be the same. "And yet, more often than not, he was around to m-mock me!" Tsuyu grabbed her hand to calm her a bit.

"I still can't understand what you meant about him protecting you. It seems the opposite."

"It is... I only realized the t-truth after being put in a different class than him in my last middle school year. I think Katsuki acted the way he did to make other b-bullies know I was out of limits; that no one -except for him- could m-mess with me. And it worked. The others left me alone, or Katsuki b-beat them up. But that also meant I had no friends whatsoever... Because of him, I was isolated." She felt that righteous rage flare in her chest again. "And the worst is that he t-thought he was doing me a favor!" She fumed. "He reminded me constantly that I had no place trying to be a hero without a Q-Quirk. But despite how painful his words were, t-they still motivated me to keep going, so I'll..." Suddenly, her ire extinguished, and she quieted.

"_You'll _what, kero?"

"I-I'll kick his ass a-and prove him wrong." She completed the phrase, sheepish.

Tsuyu giggled in response.

"I think you did."

* * *

Towards the end of that day, the journalists trespassed, activating the campus alarms.

While she went into a panic, not knowing what to do, Tenya solved the problem by himself. After that, it was only fair to give her position to Momo so Tenya could assume the class vice-presidency.

Seeing them now, coordinating their classmates while they took the bus to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, she knew it was the right decision.

"I still think you would have done a good job, kero," commented Tsuyu, seated at her right side.

"Nah." She waved a hand dismissively. "It's like Aizawa-sensei said, I wasn't m-made for such responsibility."

He was more cynical about it, of course. Something like _'that is better; having the problem child as class president is laughable'._

"Any idea when you're going to have your hero uniform back, kero?"

She was currently using her PE clothes. Sadly, her hero uniform had to be repaired after all the damage it received.

"F-for our next practical class, I think. It'll probably take longer t-than normal because of the changes I requested."

"Changes, kero?"

"Taking off the All-Mig-, I m-mean, the bunny hood." It probably was for the better. She could almost imagine being a pro-hero and having her younger fans wanting to pull her _'ears'_. It was embarrassing, and it had occurred to Mirko herself, so she didn't want to risk it.

Tsuyu's expression saddened. "You looked really cute with it, kero."

"I-I did?!" The frog girl nodded.

"Also, I found it nice that both our uniforms were green and animal-themed..." Watching Tsuyu feeling sad somehow made her feel sad too.

She needed to solve this.

"I'll tell the support people to k-keep it after all!" she blurted.

Having her hood pulled around by little kids would be worth it if she kept that precious smile on Tsuyu's face.

* * *

Once on the USJ, No.13 welcomed them.

The pro-hero took a moment to talk to them about the importance of being careful with their Quirks. She took it seriously, considering how dangerous One For All could be.

Serious mood aside, everything was fine at first. But then the dark mist appeared, and some shady-looking guy came out of it.

She knew it wasn't part of the training when her teacher's expression darkened.

"Huddle together, and don't move!" Yelled Aizawa, as more intruders appeared from the mist. "No.13, protect the students!" He ordered the other pro-hero.

"What is happening?" asked Kirishima in confusion. "Is this like the entrance exam?"

"I SAID DON'T MOVE! Those are real villains!"

Reality finally settled in between her classmates, as the hand-masked villain -the apparent leader- spouted some outrageous declarations about killing All Might.

She felt a big hand grabbing hers and knew it was Tsuyu without having to look at her. She just couldn't look away from the awful mess they were involved in.

The alarms and communications were not working. Everyone was panicking because All Might wasn't there. Not to mention, they were just a bunch of students accompanied by only two pro-heroes against dozens of villains...

But they got some hope back when Aizawa started stomping on all the criminals as if they were utter trash.

And they probably were.

Instead of the experienced and dangerous villains she saw on TV, these were mostly generic thugs. With the only exceptions being the leader, the huge bird-like guy with the brain-exposed, and the mist guy.

None of the first two had made much yet, but they were definitely dangerous. Especially the big one. Even if he hadn't moved an inch, his presence was unnerving.

And the mist guy? He made his usefulness obvious the moment they tried to evacuate the building.

First, he was unaffected by Katsuki and Eijiro attacks. Then his intangible body spread around like the black plague and reached for them.

Tsuyu and her tried to get out of the way and were close to succeeding. But the utter darkness was faster.

* * *

With a splash, Tsuyu fell into the water zone.

In other circumstances, she would feel blessed for the opportunity of swimming in such an amazing place. A shame the situation was less than ideal.

First, she noticed a shark thug attacking a cute girl with green hair.

_'Izumi-chan!' _Fueled with anger, Tsuyu advanced through the water like a missile and kicked the villain out of the way. Then grabbed Izumi with her left arm and pulled her away.

Immediately after, she saw a drowning Minoru some meters from them. And as much as he was in her blacklist, she would never abandon someone in such a situation, so she caught him with her tongue and swam to the surface.

Both of her classmates breathed deeply with relief.

"Are you guys fine, kero?" Minoru nodded while coughing some water.

"I am. T-thanks, Tsu," muttered Izumi, very close to her ear, making her shiver.

That made her hyper-aware of how Izumi clung to her.

"E-eh. Y-yuri is fine too," babbled the small purple boy, which Tsuyu responded by throwing him on the boat.

Then she turned to Izumi, and their eyes locked with each other.

Not only Izumi's body against hers was comfortingly warm, but the way she looked while wet was indescribable.

"Izumi-chan."

"Y-yeah?"

"Try to land on your feet, kero."

"E-eh, wha-?" Without another word, she wrapped Izumi with her tongue and throw her on the boat, just like she did with Minoru. Then she climbed up the boat's hull.

Once on top, she found Izumi pouting at her. "That h-hurt, Tsu." This girl was making it difficult for her to remain in control of herself...

Stupid pheromones.

"Sorry, but I think we are in a bad situation, kero." The three of them looked down at the water.

Villains surrounded the boat.

"We n-need to escape from this place." Izumi turned to her. "Tsu?"

"I can jump a third of the distance to the shore but not much more."

"The villains would follow us," she mumbled. "If possible, we should deal with them ourselves to diminish the weight on Aizawa-sensei's shoulders. What could we do-?"

"Wait a sec! What are you girls talking about?! Just look at those guys! Do you seriously want to risk yourselves to be eaten by them only to go where the rest of the villains are?" Both Izumi and her nodded. "WHY?! If we only wait, Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei will take care of everything, right?!" The guy asked in desperation.

She was not sure how to be delicate about it, so she decided to be blunt.

"Mineta-chan, these villains came here to kill All Might. So they must have a plan to do that. They wouldn't bother with all this mess if it wasn't the case."

"T-that's-?!" Minoru felt overwhelmed. It was normal. The notion of All Might being defeated sounded like fiction.

When he turned to Izumi, she looked grim.

"Tsu is right, Mineta-san. It must have b-been them who intruded into UA yesterday. And if they are t-that resourceful, then it's not unthinkable for them to have developed a method to kill All Might." Minoru was about to have a panic attack at that point. It only worsened when one villain sliced the boat, making it sink slowly.

"W-WE ARE DOOMED!" Minoru tried to jump at Tsuyu to hug her, but only got slapped away.

"Actually, um, I think I c-can get us safely to the shore and incapacitate these v-villains at the same time." Tsuyu's eyes widened.

"How, kero?"

"Mineta-san." The boy flinched. "Could y-you throw one of your sticky balls into the water?"

"E-eh?" He seemed confused for a moment, but then took one of the purple spheres off his head and did as she asked.

The sphere floated in the water harmlessly, but the closest villains immediately backed away from it.

"I was right. They d-don't know what our Quirks do!" Izumi smiled.

"U-uh?"

"That's the reason they're being extra careful with us instead of just getting on board. And why they brought T-Tsu to the water zone despite her having the advantage here."

"That was an awful slip, kero," commented Tsuyu.

"Which they tried to c-compensate with greater numbers. But that won't matter if they can't move." Izumi turned to Minoru again. "So t-throw as m-many sticky balls to the water as you can, Mineta-san!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" The panicked boy used his Quirk until his scalp bled. "Taste t-the grapes, motherfuckers!"

"Tsu, p-pull me back to the boat after I'm done. Then we'll swim out of here." Izumi walked to the edge of the boat.

"Izumi-chan, wait a sec-."

"There's no time. W-we are sinking!" The girl jumped down towards the dozen of villains waiting in the water. Her determination surpassing any fear she felt. "**Delaware... SMASH!**" With a simple flick of her finger, the resulting air blast pierced through the water's surface, creating a huge void. And in consequence, the water trying to refill said void created a waterspout that pulled all the villains in. "NOW, TSU!" Tsuyu pulled her with her tongue, and after grabbing Minoru, jumped off the boat.

An instant later, the water splashed the villains away, all of them stuck together thanks to Minoru's Quirk.

"You should have mentioned the part when you throw yourself at the villains like a crazy person," she commented, non-amused. Her speech was unaffected despite her elonged tongue.

"S-sorry."

"Besides that, you guys were great, kero." She smiled.

* * *

With the villains dealt with, swimming to the shore was uneventful.

Arriving at the shore wasn't.

They immediately saw their teacher fighting against the villain leader.

At first, the exchange was quite even. But just a wrong move got Aizawa's elbow partially decayed, and just a pair of seconds later, he was being crushed to the ground with abhorrent ease by the villain behemoth.

"**...Tell the Symbol of Peace he's wanted by the artificial human 'Nomu'!**" Grunted the villain leader, revealing his ace under the sleeve.

If their teacher was defeated so easily by him, no, by_ it,_ then there was nothing they could do against such a creature.

However, when hope seemed lost, the mist villain appeared to entrust his boss with certain info.

"...I'm afraid he escaped." Despite having incapacitated No.13, the villain had failed to scatter all their classmates or kept them inside the USJ. So now they only needed to endure some minutes to receive backup.

The villain leader -Tomura Shigaraki- understood this and was planning to flee.

"Yay, w-we are saved-!" Tsuyu pushed Minoru deep into the water before he could put his dirty hands when they didn't belong.

"This feels off, Izumi-chan."

"It d-does. I mean, are they really going to give up so easily after everything they did...?"

Tsuyu was too focused on the Nomu to notice the subtle glance the Shigaraki directed in their direction.

"**But before escaping,** _**why don't we make use of this opportunity to take the Symbol of Peace's pride down a notch?**_"

She barely blinked, and he was already in front of her, his hand closing on her face.

But nothing happened.

"**You are truly amazing, Eraser Head,**" he said in mad glee.

Everything after that happened too fast.

"L-Let go of her!"

"**Nomu.**"

**"SMASH!"**

Izumi threw a punch in Shigaraki's direction, but instead of him, it hit the monstrous abomination that followed his orders like a pet.

And not only the Nomu wasn't hurt by Izumi's Quirk at all. The worst part is that they didn't even notice when the humongous thing moved. It just did. It was absurd and dreadful beyond comprehension.

And now it had Izumi's fist caught in its iron grip.

"_**Smash**_**, you said? Are you an All Might's fangirl or something? So pathetic...**" Tsuyu knew it by the amusement and irritation mixed in his voice...

He didn't care who he killed. He would be happy with any of them.

Shrugging her fears away, she was about to intervene to pull Izumi out of the monster's grasp.

But then Izumi turned to look at her. And the girl she liked so much smiled sadly at her.

Tsuyu felt something inside her broking.

* * *

Izumi wanted to be a hero.

_**Since when?**_

It had been her wish since she could remember.

_**Why?**_

She admired All Might. So she wanted to be like him.

_**Do you want to be the No.1?**_

All Might was the No.1.

And Katsuki, who she used to respect, wanted to be it.

So she supposed being the No.1 hero was part of her dream.

_**Is it like that?**_

Yes, and no.

Her old-self -the one who was Quirkless- would probably be furious if it knew she said _'yes'_ to that question.

But now she had All Might's Quirk, so whether or not she liked, it was her responsibility to make her best effort to be worthy of being the next Symbol of Peace. Because she was no longer fighting only for herself, but for all the people that believed in her.

And yet, she understood something that people like Endeavor had problems to even conceive...

Being the No.1 was not a goal, but a result. A compromise.

It was not something you could -or should- dedicate your career to pursue, but something that would come by itself if you worked harder than anyone else and were the indicated to protect people's hopes.

And for that reason, she would never forget her true dream.

_**More than anything, I just wanted to save people.**_

And now she would accomplish that.

**"**Delaware Smash!**" **With a pained smile on her face, Izumi shot a low-powered attack at Tsuyu and Minoru, pushing them farther away in the water, so they would have a better possibility of keeping themselves safe from danger.

"**Hah...? Was that one of those heroic sacrifices that are so popular lately?**" The Nomu grabbed her other hand and raised her in the air. "**Can you feel them? Your death flags are waving so wildly right now...**"

She ignored the villain's words, and taking advantage of the way she was hanging from her arms, balanced her body forwards to throw a powerful kick at the Nomu's head. "**SMASH!**"

Her attack connected with a cracking sound from the artificial monster's neck, but it didn't let her go. It twisted its head back to place and caught her foot between its jaws. Leaving her defenseless.

"**You heard it, right? You actually broke Nomu's neck for a moment there. And you call yourself a hero?! All of you act so righteously when you are just a bunch of violent psychos!**"

She ground her teeth, more in anger than in pain. And she was in a lot of pain.

Shigaraki was just mocking her because he was in control of the situation. Because Nomu was currently stronger and faster than her.

He could have ordered it to kill her a long while ago, but he didn't because this was funnier. He just wanted her to drown in despair.

But he was underestimating her.

"You will not win," she muttered.

"**I think that's clear. We failed this quest. Tough luck! But this right now? This is just me taking my fury out on one amusingly stupid NPC.**"

"No. I don't mean this time. I mean always." She breathed deeply. "As long as the hope that All Might raised in people's hearts survives, you'll keep losing." She saw Shigaraki approaching slowly in the corner of her eye. "Even after All Might's retires... **You won't ever win!**" He was standing at her side, his killing intent bleeding out of control.

"**Nomu.**" He hissed. "**Rip he-!**"

""**I AM HERE!**"" Yelled both mentor and disciple, as the doors of the USJ opened.

Increasing OFA output to the maximum she could use without outright exploding, Izumi twisted her body, shredding apart Nomu's fingers and teeth.

Her movement created a blast that struck a defenseless Shigaraki. Nomu being suddenly too busy stopping All Might's fists to protect its master.

Fortunately, before her battered body could hit the ground, a pink something pulled her to safety.

All Might's hope and Nomu's despair collided. And then Izumi's words to Shigaraki turned the truth.

* * *

**Okay! I was going to make this chapter a bit longer. But in this way, I will have the opportunity to have the next chapter to deal with the USJ's repercussions. **

**And maybe also the start of the Festival...? It will depend on the chapter's length.**

**Also, I have made some changes on my writing style, trying to make it less redundant. Because I used to repeat some phrases and words a bit too much before. Do you think its an upgrade? Or did it feel the same?**

**Remember to review, favorite, and follow! And if you want to support me, you can donate to my ko-fi. The link is on my profile.**


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